Designers
POUL KJAERHOLM
Poul Kjaerholm(1929-1980) was
born in Denmark and studied at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen. Among his designs are the the PK0 plywood series, the PK61 coffeee table and the hammock chair of 1965. Poul Kjaerholm worked as a furniture designer and architect for three decades, 1950 to 1980. Poul Kjaerholm’s designs were both classical and radical at the same time. They looked back towards the designs of classical Greece and Egypt as well as Rietveld, Mies Van Der Rohe and the Bauhaus.
In a period where Scandinavian furniture was dominated by sinuous forms in teak and rosewood, Kjaerholm’s use of steel and leather was a step towards the future. The craftsmen that manufactured the furniture at E. Kold Christensen brought the materials to life. Poul Kjaerholm was able to combine both an architect’s view of design along with that of a sculptor’s. In 1973, he became head of the Institut for Design and later taught as a professor of design until his death in 1980.