Just a note about curb collecting and Arne Jacobsen. My wife Paige is pretty good at curb collecting, given that she found an Arne Jacobsen–designed Dot stool among someone’s (we don’t know who) discarded to be hauled away curb paraphernalia in our neighborhood. With a sign to just take it. And then she found another one a few days later in the same place. A photo of the first below:
After being cleaned up (it was in bad shape) we noticed that this is the original and first 1954 model. It can be identified by the 3 legs (vs. the later 4) that are attached with exposed screws through the plywood seat. This attachment was done with blind connections in later manufactured models and in later knockoffs. Paige found 2 stools just lying there on the curb.
There an interesting photo taken in the lobby of Rødovre Town Hall where along line of Dot stools are placed.
Jacobsen had designed the whole facility as well; an exterior photo is below:
Other architectural projects include the LANDSKRONA SPORTS HALL. And below, THE NATIONAL BANK building in Copenhagen:
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In addition to architecture, and beyond the Dot stool, Jacobsen is well known for the other pieces of furniture shown below, as well as his many designs for textiles and wall coverings. (More to be talked about later regarding textiles. It occurred during World War II, before this time of productivity in the 1950’s and was understandably the more intense period of his life and career.):
A more complete overview of Jacobsen’s works can be found here.
Also, another resource is the design work of Arne Jacobsen on permanent display at the NATIONALMUSEUM STOCKHOLM. As a student in Stockholm, I resided practically next door to the museum. I lived in a student hostel located in the sailing ship Af Chapman docked nearby and passed the museum daily as well as time spent in the café in the Museum of Modern Art, also located nearby. The ship, the museums, and a location map are below.
Some shots from Google Maps of the Af Chapman, the hostel where I lived while a student in Stockholm:
Below is the National Museum, where art and design objects of Arne Jacobsen are exhibited, as seen from the Af Chapman:
Arne Jacobsen ended up in Stockholm from 1943 to 1945. The Nazi occupation of Denmark that started in 1940 coexisted from what one can tell in an uneasy manner with Danish authorities. Jacobsen tried, along with his fellow Danes, to practice his craft and conduct business as best he could. However, in 1943 the Nazis decided to arrest and deport to concentration camps as many Jews as they could. Jacobsen, along with his wife Jonna and with the assistance of the Danish underground, fled. They, along with 7,000 other Jews left Copenhagen and escaped to Sweden. The story goes that they rowed their way across the 2.5-mile Øresund strait to Sweden.
I do not know nor could I find where in Stockholm Arne Jacobsen practiced once he got there, but he did develop a relationship with the major Stockholm department store Nordiska Kompaniet. Together and with the textile company Borås Tapeter they developed botanical motif wall coverings and other textile products, some of which can be seen in the National Museum. The fabrics can also be seen put together by Arne and Jonna’s grandson Tobias.
It’s interesting to note that in Paris at this time Christian Dior was attempting to continue practicing his art of fashion design even though the Nazis were in the midst of that occupation as well. The parallels to what Arne Jacobsen must have been going through are interesting to compare. Dior’s story (as well as the story of Coco Chanel and her collaboration with the Nazis and her Nazi lover) is told very well in the AppleTV streaming series THE NEW LOOK. Highly recommended.
Blog post written by Senior Architect, David Tritt.
