The Danish Chair: An International Affair traces the full arc of Denmark's most celebrated design obsession — mapping the typological family trees, constructional refinements, and cross-pollinating influences that defined 20th-century Danish furniture.
About This Book
When American journalists turned their attention to the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild exhibition in 1949, they catalysed a global phenomenon: Danish Design as an international brand. The Danish Chair locates that moment within a longer history, structuring its argument around chair types rather than individual designers — revealing how the so-called golden age was built on the disciplined study and refinement of historical forms. Christian Holmsted Olesen traces the lineage between objects: how a detail migrated, how a structural solution recurred, how concept informed concept across generations of makers. Essential reading for anyone serious about furniture design history, Scandinavian modernism, or design typology.
Key Features
- 336 pages of typologically organised furniture history, tracing design lineage through construction, detailing, and concept
- Authored by Christian Holmsted Olesen
- Published by Thames & Hudson, ISBN 9788792596628
What You'll Discover
- How the golden age of Danish furniture design was structured around the systematic refinement of historical chair types rather than individual creative leaps
- The precise moment — the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild exhibition of 1949 — when Danish furniture crossed from local craft tradition to international cultural export
- The web of influence connecting Danish chairs across generations: shared details, construction logic, and conceptual inheritance traced object to object
- Why design, not architecture or fine art, was the cultural phenomenon that placed Denmark on the world map at mid-century
About the Author
Christian Holmsted Olesen is the author of this comprehensive study of Danish chair design. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 336
- Dimensions: 251 x 143 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9788792596628
- Publisher: Thames & Hudson
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Furniture designers, design historians, Scandinavian modernism scholars, collectors of Danish design, and architecture students with a focus on material culture and craft history.