Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen (1902–1971) was one of Denmark’s most influential 20th-century architects and designers, and through his provocative blend of functional integrity and sculptural grace, his influence spread such as to become synonymous with Scandinavian and even Modern design.

Starting work as a bricklayer before attaining an architecture degree, Jacobsen gained a lifelong love of materials and proportion. Influenced by the work of Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and other Modernists during a trip to Berlin in the late 1920s, his early career, as with many architects, was spent working on small private commissions.

After World War II, Jacobsen was influenced by the new wave of American designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, as well as by his textile designer wife, Joanna. His first furniture of note was the Ant Chair, which was rapidly followed by the Series 7 or Butterfly Chair. His fame grew such that he was handed the commission for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen in 1957, where his comprehensive approach considered every aspect of building design – including bespoke furniture, cutlery, even doorknobs – a style that he replicated in the design of St Catherine’s College at Oxford.

Today, the Swan and Egg Chair, together with the Ant and Butterfly, stand as true icons of 20th-century design.