Designer of the week – Hans Wegner - Spotlight: Shell Chair

Designer of the week – Hans Wegner - Spotlight: Shell Chair

When you think about Denmark, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Well, for most people is the city of Copenhagen. For design enthusiasts in probably the name of Hans Wegner, a modernist revolutionary and significant representative of the mid-century furniture revival nowadays.

His iconic Shell Chair did not sell well when it was first introduced to the public back in 1963. It is comprised of four different parts: the iconic seat (whose shape resembles that of smile). The wide back, with a cushion that covers it entirely. The lone back leg, which is shorter to give the chair a reclining quality, and the front legs which form a triangular base.

A little history on Hans Wegner

Suggested Item:  Shell Chair

As a child, Wegner started learning the craft of cabinetmaking from H. F. Stahlberg. He was also the son of a shoemaker, which probably meant he had no troubles getting around any type of handicraft. He joined the army at 20 years old, after having worked with his hands for most of his life, and then went on to study at the Danish School of Arts and Crafts and the Architectural Academy in the country’s capital city.

Wegner later worked for Arne Jacobsen and Johannes Hansen. He started his own company and did both architectural and furniture design, creating over 500 chairs. So far, only a fifth of these designs have been reproduced and subsequently sold. However, the ones that have seen the light are currently auctioned for astronomical sums and sold by replica manufacturers around the world. Wegner’s designs have a distinctive style that separates him from the rest of the mid-century modernist movement.

The Shell chair

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The smiling chair was originally designed for the Copenhagen’s Annual Furniture Guild Exhibition. As it was mentioned earlier, the public response to the chair was somewhat poor, and it didn’t sell in great numbers. This led to the chair being produced only in limited numbers by Carl Hansen & Sons.

Wegner also famously designed the Halyard chair, which came to him after a trip to the beach. Many people have theorized that the Shell chair comes from a similar place of inspiration. Following the mid-century furniture renaissance of the 1980s, the few Shell chairs that were left in good condition began to be auctioned at luxury gatherings around the US and Europe. This prompted Carl Hansen & Sons to start producing the chair again at the dawn of the 21 ^st century.

Nowadays, a Shell chair is a difficult yet sophisticated object to place inside a home. It is not a work of subtlety but rather a statement in what can be achieved when form is just a little bit more important than function. It is a home design challenge, and therefore, a unique addition to any home.