He is the Danish architect who mastered the most
personal and successful interpretation of the international functionalism. His
architecture includes a considerable number of epoch making buildings in both
Denmark, Germany and Great Britain.
Arne Jacobsen initially trained as a mason
before studying architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, Copenhagen,
graduating in 1927 From 1927 until 1930, he worked in the architectural office
of Paul Holsoe. In 1930, he established his own design office, which he headed
until his death in 1971, and worked independently as an architect, interior,
furniture, textile and ceramics designer. His best known projects
are St. Catherineīs College, Oxford, and the SAS Hotel, Copenhagen.
Arne
Jacobsenīs designs came into existence as brief sketches and were then modeled
in plaster or cardboard in full size. He kept on working until his
revolutionary ideas for new furniture had been realized at the utmost
perfection. The "Ant" from 1952 became the starting point of his
world fame as a furniture designer and became the first of a number of lightweight
chairs with seat and back in one piece of molded wood. Model "3107"
from 1955 is often merely called " The Number Seven Chair". It was launched in beech, black and white. The "3107" has become the most important success in Danish furniture history - manufactured in more than 5 million copies. The Royal Hotel 1956-61, situated in Copenhagen, is one of Arne Jacobsenīs masterpieces. For the decoration of the hotel he designed several pieces of furniture, lamps and fabrics, and also cutlery, glasses, and door handles. As significant counterpoints to the stiffly upright, monumental building his easy chair, the "Swan" Chair and the "Egg" Chair, stand out as organic sculptures. Common to all Arne Jacobsenīs designs is that they have become international design
classics. "The Ant" and "The Number Seven" chairs made Arne Jacobsen world famous as a furniture designer.
