We continue our series on mid-century modernism with a profile on Danish architect Arne Jacobson, whose ethos of total design saw him craft buildings down to the smallest details.
Jacobsen once stated how "the act of creation is equally exhilarating whether one is working on a teaspoon or a national bank," and his broad output is a testament to an all-encompassing vision of the impact design could have.
While Jacobsen is probably best known today for his curvaceous chair designs ? among them the organically shaped and aptly named Egg, Swan, Pot and Drop ? he always considered these an extension of architectural spaces rather than objects in their own right.
"[Jacobsen] didn't call himself a designer; he didn't even like the word,'' architecture professor Scott Poole said in a New York Times article. "He conceived the furniture as part of a whole." Arne Jacobsen outside the SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen's first skyscraper. Photo courtesy of Radisson
Indeed, many of the designs for which Jacobsen is best known today, be they chairs, textiles, cutlery or lighting, were created for one of his most high-profile architectural projects, the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.
Becoming the Danish capital's first skyscraper upon its completion in 1960, the starkly modern exterior of this hotel ? which many critics feared would ruin the city's traditional skyline ? concealed intimate, green-toned interiors that were carefully crafted to exude a feeling of luxury and...