Your Guide to the Iconic Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen

Out of all the designs synonymous with mid century furniture, perhaps none are more revered and certainly none more influential on pop culture than Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair.This iconic design has been in production ever since its release. It’s no wonder it became a Danish classic!

To give all of the answers to your burning questions and to delve in to the piece’s unique history, here’s your guide to the quintessential Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen.

History

Arne Jacobsen, son of a safety pin trader, was born in Copenhagen in 1902 and showed an extraordinary talent for drawing, sculpture and design from an early age. Originally intending to become a painter, he later decided that a career in architecture was a more sensible choice.

Though the leap from painter to architect may seem unusual, both mediums proved to give him a platform for personal expression. One via playful creativity and the other via accurate designs and drawings. In the 50’s he was commissioned to design every aspect of the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

He creatively mastered everything from architecture to the furnishing, including the Egg Chair, to lighting and even the cutlery used in the restaurants. In testament to Jacobsen’s progressive eye for design, the building was the tallest in Denmark for an impressive reign of two decades.

It was during this commission that the groundbreaking Egg Chair, and it's smaller sibling the Swan Chair, were born. Amazing! Whilst the Radisson has been renovated many times during its six decade life, the hotel keeps being influenced thanks to its generous doses of Jacobsen’s iconic pieces.

However, if you’re looking for a truly mid-century experience, Room 606 remains untouched and in its original style.Believe it or not, the room is even still available for booking today for £590… This is just about the cost of an Egg Chair replica! Funny, isn’t it?

Groundbreaking Design

Always pushing boundaries of design, Arne Jacobsen’s sculptural Egg Chair brought many now common design techniques into the mainstream. The most notable of which is the molded fiberglass shell, while allowing for a lightweight, yet incredibly strong shape.

Back then, these types of shapes could only be obtained with wood or steel. Making furniture manufactured in fiberglass was unheard of before. This innovative use of materials gave the Egg Chair Arne Jacobsen its unique cocooning shape, which was inspired by Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair.

It was specifically created in order to give people that much-needed privacy in public areas, such as hotel lobbies. For a truly clean design, the Egg Chair was originally upholstered in fabric with visible seams only surrounding the edge and underside.

In other words, the Egg Chair’s visible seat front and back were clean and uninterrupted. This was considered an important feature given the chair’s 360° swivel mechanism, meaning the back is often as much of a feature as the front.

We hope this info truly inspires you. As you can see, this enveloping beauty by Danish mastermind Jacobsen has never been out of style.For Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair replicas at affordable prices, visit Manhattan Home Design.