Especially famed for his Spanish Chair, Mogensen was one of the most important and influential representatives of Danish furniture design
Børge Mogensen was one of the most important and influential representatives of Danish furniture design. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he created a wealth of quality furniture, many pieces of which, such as his Spanish Chair, are still sold as design classics to this day. Influenced by traditional craftsmanship, Mogensen was also often inspired by Shaker furniture and design philosophies. A restless thinker, he noted down all of his ideas immediately—whether on matchboxes, napkins or used envelopes.
This magnificent monograph examines Mogensen’s fascinating approach to design and presents his most well known and most popular pieces of furniture. Workshop drawings, sketches and photographs of his furniture as well as archival pictures from his everyday life offer fascinating insight into the world of the Danish designer, whose furniture is not only attractive, but also always, above all, functional.
Børge Mogensen (1914–72) opened his own design office in 1950, quickly becoming one of the designers that defined the Danish Modern style in the popular imagination with his clean and highly functional aesthetic. He eschewed fashion and excessively expensive materials, aiming first and foremost to create simple and practical furniture. He put this philosophy into practice in his design work for the Danish cooperative supermarket chain FDB, which offered high-quality, beautifully designed furniture to the Danish customer at affordable prices.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Børge Mogensen: Simplicity and Function.'
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Metropolis
Hinali Shah And Merilyn Chang
[Børge Mogensen] was a restless thinker who took pages of notes on current and prospective designs, all of which are included in this visual piece, featuring photographs of his furniture, workshop drawings, and other projects.
In 1958, the Danish Ministry of Education embarked upon an exacting study of children's anatomy. From the resulting statistics, one could determine what size chair and desk would be appropriate for different age groups—from a girl just starting kindergarten to a boy about to graduate from high school. With these in mind, Børge Mogensen and Esben Klint designed this 1962 line of beech and padauk school furniture, which was used throughout Denmark in the 60s and 70s. Read more about Mogensen's remarkable contribution to design history in the superb new monograph from Hatje Cantz. continue to blog
Now is definitely the right time to be thinking about pure, clean, even Shaker-inspired Danish Modern furniture design. Something we can understand immediately, intuitively and universally. Something that is not remotely associated with current American political entertainment. Work that is about simplicity and function, the apt subtitle of this gorgeous new monograph on Børge Mogensen, one of the greatest of the greats. The work in this book is at once modest and rigorous, both expressive and generous, and above all, exquisitely idealistic. The design of the book itself is also superb. Clean, scholarly, beautifully illustrated, and yet friendly, informative and bold. Featured image, of Mogensen in one of his most iconic designs, the Spanish Chair, was made in conjunction with the 1958 Cabinetmaker's Guild Exhibition where it made its debut. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.75 x 10.5 in. / 240 pgs / 230 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $75.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $99 ISBN: 9783775742115 PUBLISHER: Hatje Cantz AVAILABLE: 2/28/2017 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of print AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: NA LA
Published by Hatje Cantz. Edited with text by Michael Müller.
Especially famed for his Spanish Chair, Mogensen was one of the most important and influential representatives of Danish furniture design
Børge Mogensen was one of the most important and influential representatives of Danish furniture design. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he created a wealth of quality furniture, many pieces of which, such as his Spanish Chair, are still sold as design classics to this day. Influenced by traditional craftsmanship, Mogensen was also often inspired by Shaker furniture and design philosophies. A restless thinker, he noted down all of his ideas immediately—whether on matchboxes, napkins or used envelopes.
This magnificent monograph examines Mogensen’s fascinating approach to design and presents his most well known and most popular pieces of furniture. Workshop drawings, sketches and photographs of his furniture as well as archival pictures from his everyday life offer fascinating insight into the world of the Danish designer, whose furniture is not only attractive, but also always, above all, functional.
Børge Mogensen (1914–72) opened his own design office in 1950, quickly becoming one of the designers that defined the Danish Modern style in the popular imagination with his clean and highly functional aesthetic. He eschewed fashion and excessively expensive materials, aiming first and foremost to create simple and practical furniture. He put this philosophy into practice in his design work for the Danish cooperative supermarket chain FDB, which offered high-quality, beautifully designed furniture to the Danish customer at affordable prices.
