[disclosure – Ad/gifted – Fritz Hansen kindly covered my flights and a night’s stay in Copenhagen for 3 Days of Design in exchange for this post. All images: Cate St Hill]
I love mixing timeless design from the past with simple, contemporary influences – I find it gives the home a sense of history and meaning; a reasoning behind each piece and an element of intrigue and surprise that you don’t get if everything is from the same time or era. I like designs to have a story behind them, whether that’s knowing a little about the designer, having an insight into how their design process works or being conscious of how a piece was crafted.
Danish company Fritz Hansen is a good example of a design brand that is mindful of its rich heritage, while also looking firmly into the future. During its 150 year history, Fritz Hansen has produced a whole host of design icons we still know and love decades later, as well as new furniture and accessories by the most sought after names in design today. The new and the old sit comfortably next to each other – the common thread being the seductive simplicity that can elevate the ordinary and everyday.
At Milan Design Week and 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen, Fritz Hansen unveiled a new direction and visual identity. Instead of The Republic of Fritz Hansen, they are now known, much more simply, as Fritz Hansen. The fresh new look is cleaner, bolder and much more streamlined.
Here you can see two newly launched pieces from the Fritz Hansen collection – a magazine holder and a sculptural wooden armchair. But can you tell which one was designed in the 1950s and which one was created in 2019?
It’s not so easy to tell. Either one could have been designed then or now. The JH97 lounge chair – although familiar with its beautifully crafted wooden frame, that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in a mid-century interior – was introduced at Milan earlier this year.
Conceived by Spanish designer Jaime Hayon, the JH97 takes influences from the past and the future. It’s a play of balance – between classic and the modern, the light and the solid, and the hard and the smooth. The aim, Fritz Hansen’s head of design Christian Andresen says, was to create a modern lounge chair that was light and sculptural in expression. Hayon took inspiration from the historic craftsmanship and traditional techniques that the Danish brand has finessed over the decades, delving into its woodworking knowledge and developing the chair’s hand-assembled joints.
Says Hayon: ‘It is well balanced and expressive, and has the perfect mix of Danish tradition and a Mediterranean feel, which I love. I love the silhouette and how it looks beautiful from all angles. I also love the fact that it is the best-priced lounge chair I have ever made, making it accessible to a wider audience.’
But in typical playful fashion, the JH97 chair was inspired by another curious inspiration – the pelican. The large bird’s broad wings, long beak and deep throat pouch are evoked in the chair’s soft curves and tactile, sculptural shape. The two pebble-shaped cushions that form the back and the seat look like they’re almost floating on the wooden frame. The arms wrap around the sitter, inviting them into its open embrace. With the chair’s tilted back, the JH97 has a relaxed, laid-back appearance – the perfect spot to curl up with a book and a cup of coffee.
The pale, dusty pink adds a feminine touch to my light and airy living room. The frame comes in FSC certified natural oak, stained oak and black ash, with removable cushion covers in wool-blend textile or leather. It’s made of 8 pieces of wood that have been digitally cut before being assembled and finished by hand.
The magazine rack, meanwhile, was designed in the 1950s by American designer Paul McCobb. The relaunched design is part of the Planner series of furniture and objects, which also includes a minimalist shelving system in powder coated steel with wooden oak shelves.
Christian Andresen, head of design at Fritz Hansen, describes McCobb as a forgotten hero of design. The self-taught designer had a relatively short career, designing simple, multi-functional furniture and accessories in the Fifties and Sixties, before his early death at the age of 53 in 1969. His designs have a signature lightness to them; they’re elegant and streamlined in form.
Andresen began conversations with his son and daughter before introducing the Planner system last year. ‘He worked in an elegant, graphic style. The simplicity of Paul McCobb and the sculpture of what we do said something to me,’ Andresen says.
The graphic, black lines of the magazine holder are contrasted by the detachable wool-blend fabric. Ideal for small spaces, it can easily be moved about and used to store favourite titles within easy reach.
The two designs, both from different times, complement each other well with their simple, expressive forms and clean lines. Proof that good design can be timeless and endure beyond styles and eras.
