Egg Chair

Description

The Egg chair was designed in 1958 by architect and designer Arne Jacobsen.

It was created specifically for the Radisson SAS hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is believed that the Egg Chair was inspired at the time by Eero Saarinen’s “Womb Chair”. The unique shape of the Egg Chair provides a level of privacy with its “winged design.” The Egg Chair originated from Jacobsen’s garage, and was originally cast in plaster. Today, the chair has an adjustable tilt feature and is formed with fiberglass, with high-density polyurethane foam padding around the entire chair structure. The front and back are fully upholstered in genuine top-grain Italian leather or fabric.

Material & Feature:

• Molded fiberglass shell with highly resilient urethane foam
• Fabric, Top Grain/Aniline Leather upholstery  (C.O.M available)
• Polished #304 grade stainless steel base with matte finish
• 360 degree swivel
• All materials are fire-retardant & non-toxic (Baby friendly)

About the Designer

Arne Jacobsen bought a plywood chair designed by Charles Eames and installed it in his own studio, where it inspired one of the most commercially successful chair models in design history. The three-legged Ant Chair (1951) sold in the millions and is considered a classic today. It consists of two simple elements: tubular steel legs and a springy seat and back formed out of a continuous piece of plywood in a range of vivid colors.

Jacobsen began training as a mason before studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, where he won a silver medal for a chair that was then exhibited at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Gunnar Asplund and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Jacobsen embraced a functionalist approach from the outset. He was among the first to introduce modernist ideas to Denmark and create industrial furniture that built on the country’s craft-based design heritage.

First among Jacobsen’s important architectural commissions was the Bellavista housing project in Copenhagen (1930-1934). His best-known and most fully integrated works are the SAS Air Terminal and the Royal Hotel Copenhagen, for which Jacobsen designed every detail, from sculptural furnishings such as his elegant Swan and Egg Chairs (1957-1958) to textiles, lighting, ashtrays and cutlery.

During the 1960s, Jacobsen’s most important work was a unified architectural and interior design scheme for St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, which, like his earlier work for the Royal Hotel, involved the design of site-specific furniture. Jacobsen’s work remains appealing and fresh today, combining free-form sculptural shapes with the traditional attributes of Scandinavian design, material and structural integrity.