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Hans Wegner
Hans Jørgensen Wegner (2 April 1914 – 26 January 2007) was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His style is often described as Organic Functionality, a modernist school with emphasis on functionality. This school of thought arose primarily in Scandinavian countries with contributions by Poul Henningsen, Alvar Aalto, and Arne Jacobsen.
Wegner has been referred to as the "King of Chairs" for his prolific work designing seating. In his lifetime he designed over 500 different chairs, over 100 of which were put into mass production and many of which have become recognisable design icons.
"If only you could design just one good chair in your life...but you simply cannot."
— Hans Wegner
Wegner received several major design prizes in his lifetime, from the Lunning Prize in 1951 and the Grand Prix of the Milan Triennale in the same year, to the Prince Eugen Medal in Sweden and the Danish Eckersberg Medal. In 1969, he was made honorary Royal designer for industry by the Royal Society of Arts in London.
Wegner was born to cobbler Peter Mathiesen Wegner and Nicoline Lausen on Smedegade 12 in Tønder. At an early age, Wegner showed interest in craft and could draw and create paper cuttings before he learned to walk. At home, Wegner was drawn to woodcarving and created wood sculptures based on Royal Copenhagen figurines he saw at the Tønder Museum.
At the age of 14, he worked as a child apprentice to master cabinetmaker H. F. Stahlberg. He soon discovered he had a feeling for wood and developed an affinity towards the material. At the age of 15, he made his first chair. Finishing his apprenticeship at 17, he crafted a lady's desk as part of his journeyman's test and remained employed in the workshop before joining the army.
During the army, he first saw the exhibition of the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild in 1935. The exhibits were a laboratory for experimentation between Master Cabinetmakers (such as Johannes Hansen, L. Pontoppidan, Niels Vodder, Jacob Kjær, and A. J. Iversen) and the best architects of the time (such as Kaare Klint, Vilhelm Lauritzen, and Ole Wanscher). These exhibits gave Wegner a first-hand experience of what the combination of workmanship and design could produce. Wegner decided to become a designer with the aim of producing and selling his furniture.
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Hans Wegner
Hans Jørgensen Wegner (2 April 1914 – 26 January 2007) was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His style is often described as Organic Functionality, a modernist school with emphasis on functionality. This school of thought arose primarily in Scandinavian countries with contributions by Poul Henningsen, Alvar Aalto, and Arne Jacobsen.
Wegner has been referred to as the "King of Chairs" for his prolific work designing seating. In his lifetime he designed over 500 different chairs, over 100 of which were put into mass production and many of which have become recognisable design icons.
"If only you could design just one good chair in your life...but you simply cannot."
— Hans Wegner
Wegner received several major design prizes in his lifetime, from the Lunning Prize in 1951 and the Grand Prix of the Milan Triennale in the same year, to the Prince Eugen Medal in Sweden and the Danish Eckersberg Medal. In 1969, he was made honorary Royal designer for industry by the Royal Society of Arts in London.
Wegner was born to cobbler Peter Mathiesen Wegner and Nicoline Lausen on Smedegade 12 in Tønder. At an early age, Wegner showed interest in craft and could draw and create paper cuttings before he learned to walk. At home, Wegner was drawn to woodcarving and created wood sculptures based on Royal Copenhagen figurines he saw at the Tønder Museum.
At the age of 14, he worked as a child apprentice to master cabinetmaker H. F. Stahlberg. He soon discovered he had a feeling for wood and developed an affinity towards the material. At the age of 15, he made his first chair. Finishing his apprenticeship at 17, he crafted a lady's desk as part of his journeyman's test and remained employed in the workshop before joining the army.
During the army, he first saw the exhibition of the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild in 1935. The exhibits were a laboratory for experimentation between Master Cabinetmakers (such as Johannes Hansen, L. Pontoppidan, Niels Vodder, Jacob Kjær, and A. J. Iversen) and the best architects of the time (such as Kaare Klint, Vilhelm Lauritzen, and Ole Wanscher). These exhibits gave Wegner a first-hand experience of what the combination of workmanship and design could produce. Wegner decided to become a designer with the aim of producing and selling his furniture.