Three 20th-Century Chairs Reissued
Trained as a cabinetmaker, architect Arne Vodder intuitively gravitated toward wood in his furniture designs. He unveiled his first effort in metal, the AV chaise longue in steel with supple leather, at a Copenhagen furniture fair in 1972. Now Erik Jørgensen, a manufacturer known for its reproductions, joins forces with the late designer’s family to remake the original. Vodder once proclaimed, “Design should be organic, aesthetic, and beautifully executed.” Consider it done.
Designed for St. Catherine’s College at the University of Oxford in the U.K., Arne Jacobsen’s Oxford initially sparked protests among faculty members for its unabashed modernism. But the uproar didn’t last. The university even rewarded Jacobsen with an honorary doctorate. And while Fritz Hansen’s reissue reflects tweaks to the 1962 original, including updated dimensions and new finishes, the basics remain the same. A laminated wood-veneer shell is upholstered in fabric or leather and paired with a die-cast aluminum base and armrests.
You never know what you’ll find while poking into the past. It’s an established fact that Hans Wegner’s association with Carl Hansen & Søn began in 1949 with the CH22, a lounge chair boasting a shapely, form-pressed backrest and refined joinery. Scouring the archives to inform a reissue, the furniture maker was surprised to discover the CH26, a strikingly similar dining chair that was never produced—and has now been rescued from oblivion. Both are available in solid oak, solid walnut, or a combination thereof, with a woven paper-cord seat.
Written by admin
