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Kaare Klint: the father of Danish design - Part 1

The great pioneer of Danish design is undoubtedly Kaare Klint . Through his ergonomic research into standardisation, he was to set the standard for Danish design....

Design MarketSeptember 2016
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The great pioneer of Danish design is undoubtedly Kaare Klint . Through his ergonomic research into standardisation, he turned Danish decorative arts into the world-famous Danish design of the 1950s. Klint systematised a human-centred approach that was to form the basis of Danish modernism. Through a whole series of measures based on objects used by people (e.g. linen, tablecloths, cups, glasses, plates, cutlery, etc.), he established standards for the construction of, for example, sideboards, thus creating a certain form of rationalisation of storage. For its time, Klint's research was daring, to say the least. Klint's research began fairly early, in the early 1930s, and was therefore contemporary with that of Le Corbusier Corbusier (1887-1965) on the Modulor. His research can also be compared, albeit earlier, with that of Frenchman Marcel Gascoin. With the exception of the seat designed for the church in Grundtvig in 1936, made from beech and woven sea grass, none of Klint's furniture was industrially produced. It is also one of the few pieces of furniture made from beech, an indigenous wood rarely used by Klint. The designer had a strong taste for beautiful materials, such as Cuban mahogany. This choice, and the fact that it is handcrafted by Rud. Rasmussen in Copenhagen, made his furniture expensive. So if Klint was a pioneer, it was above all through his research into the standardisation of furniture, and through his teaching at the "Furniture School", part of the architecture section of the Copenhagen Academy of Fine Arts, where his avant-garde ideas were disseminated. Virtually all the future Danish designers of the 1950s and 1950s passed through this section, where Klint taught. [caption id="attachment6706" align="aligncenter" width="600"] © www.danish-furniture.com www.danish-furniture.com [/caption] His work: Let's take a look at some of Kaare Klint's best-known designs, including the furniture for the Faaborg Museum, the Red chair, his Safari chair and the chair known as the "church chair" because it was originally designed for the Grundtvig Church. Furniture for the Faaborg Museum From 1913, Klint worked with the architect Carl Petersen to design furniture for the small Faaborg Museum on the island of Fuen. At the time, Danish design was still influenced by neo-classicism, and this is clearly evident in this furniture. Kaare Klint was always aware of the various trends that influenced his work, in particular the classicism of his early furniture and the English touch that he retained throughout his life. Klint grew up in an environment where the importance of tradition was the basis for all renewal. The Danish tradition to which he was faithful was a mixture of classicism, national romanticism and, above all, a tradition of high-quality cabinet-making. He did not see the need to start from scratch, but rather encouraged creation to benefit from the discoveries and achievements of the past in order to progress more quickly. With him came a new page in the history of Danish furniture, a gradual transition, since Kaare Klint was far from breaking with Danish tradition. Taking the example of the Faaborg Armchair, which was intended to serve as a recliner in the various painting rooms of the small museum. There were also sofas, cabinets, shelves and tables. The Fauteuil de Faaborg is a light armchair, made of oak and wickerwork that clearly shows its structure. The backrest extends in a wide circular curve into the armrests, and the front legs are straight. The back legs, on the other hand, are slightly curved, reminiscent of the Klismos chair. Here we can already see some of the characteristics that would mark Kaare Klint's future furniture, such as the simple, clear shapes, the use of beautiful materials and the maintenance of the cabinet-making tradition. The chair is still produced today by Rud. Rasmussen. [caption id="attachment6708" align="aligncenter" width="408"] © www.vadärdenvärd.se www.vadärdenvärd.se [/caption] The armchairs designed for the Faaborg Museum, with their classic appearance, are part of the Danish tradition. But that doesn't necessarily mean they are historicist. Both the furniture and the details are original and designed specifically for the space for which they are intended. This is a total work of art. The environment was therefore a determining factor in the design of Klint's furniture, a notion that recurs in all his creations. Because the armchairs are lightweight, visitors can move them around and sit in front of a painting to contemplate it in greater detail. Here we see, albeit timidly, the idea of taking account of the individual for whom the furniture is intended, a notion that Kaare Klint developed a great deal in his teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. The armchairs are also perfectly adapted to the location, in this case the museum halls. Seats and backrests are horizontal and follow the plane of the floor so as not to interfere with the oblique lines of the very peaceful rooms. Similarly, the use of wickerwork, made like a rattan trellis, on the seat and back, allows us to see the colours of the floor mosaic through. The legs are slightly pointed to match the small pieces of mosaic on the floor. This armchair for the Faaborg Museum was such a success that Kaare Klint reworked it several times, notably for the office of the director of the Thorvaldsen Museum, which he restored after Carl Petersen's death in 1923. [caption id="attachment6709" align="aligncenter" width="809"] © www.kunstbib.dk www.kunstbib.dk [/caption] The Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the red chair Furniture for the Musée des Arts Décoratifs monopolised Klint's work for the next few years. He made countless display cases to showcase the various objects. Even after the museum opened in 1926, he continued to create furniture for it, as evidenced by the garden and conference room furniture. In 1928, he delivered 200 chairs made by Rud Rasmussen. This was the famous Red Chair, named after the red Niger leather that covers it. [caption id="attachment6710" align="aligncenter" width="548"] © www.roxyklassik.dk www.roxyklassik.dk [/caption] This chair is very characteristic of Kaare Klint's furniture design. Here, the inspiration comes from 18th century England, a recurring reference in his designs. Klint himself describes this chair and says that the lower part was inspired by a typical Chippendale chair with straight legs and spacers between the legs, and the back by another English chair with a very simple back covered in leather, and in this way he created a completely new chair. This way of designing a new piece of furniture was also one of the foundations of his teaching. The Red Chair was, like most of Klint's furniture, made from Cuban mahogany, a precious wood as was often done in traditional cabinetmaking. However, he was also a pioneer in this field, treating the wood only with wax to bring out the colour and the material. The notion of the authenticity of materials is very present in Klint's work. On this point, he joined other artists and designers of his time, such as the English Arts and Crafts movement and Adolph Loos. As is often the case, Klint reworked this model at a later date. It was with Kaare Klint that the great adventure of Danish furniture began, and the start of what was to guarantee a major place for Danish design on the European and American markets, especially from the 1950s onwards. But why is Klint so important if his own work remains fairly traditional? Kaare Klint a functionalist? As early as 1916-1917, Klint produced a series of drawings showing the dimensions of furniture in relation to the size of the human being, standing and seated, the extent of his body, the distances between his field of action and his field of vision, etc. This work was not aimed at industrial production. It wasn't until the 1950s and 1960s that there was any real industrial production in Denmark. Klint considered anatomical considerations to be fundamental when designing furniture, something that seems obvious to us today. His work on standardising furniture tended to take account of the human environment. Ergonomics was therefore a priority for Klint, and he was interested in standardising furniture in order to adapt it better to people. [caption id="attachment6711" align="aligncenter" width="300"] © www.kunstbib.dk www.kunstbib.dk [/caption] As we will see with the desks and sideboards, at Klint there is a close link between form and content. The external dimensions are determined by his studies of human height. Likewise, the volume and divisions take into account space-saving, different paper formats, storage desires and uses that vary according to individual needs. How do you recognise a Kaare Klint bookcase? There is one common denominator between the different bookcases: the inner part is separated from the rest by a chest of drawers and the upper part is as high as a human being can reach with his hand when standing. The bookcase is separated in the middle by a central partition. On this and on the lower sides of the bookcase, Klint has created a system of slots in the lower part of the shelves with projecting bottoms. The number of slots makes it possible to divide the bookcase into many different units, in line with the standardisation of the different objects, and thus allowing for a wide variety of uses. In this way, it reconciles ergonomic considerations with issues of practicality and space. [caption id="attachment6712" align="aligncenter" width="718"] © www.roxyklassik.dk www.roxyklassik.dk [/caption] At Klint, work begins in the same way: first, studies are carried out on human proportions in relation to the object, on the need for space and on the possibilities for construction, then the dimensions are determined and the materials processed, etc. Only then can the work of standardisation begin. Only then can the work of standardisation begin. It's no exaggeration to call him Denmark's leading designer. However, it is difficult to describe him as a functionalist in the usual sense of the word, as there was no question of him using new materials such as metal, as Klint preferred traditional wood, thus following in the footsteps of the Danish cabinet-making tradition. The trend embodied by Klint is sometimes referred to as "traditional functionalism". And some call him a traditional modernist. [caption id="attachment6713" align="aligncenter" width="613"] © www.bobedre.dk www.bobedre.dk [/caption] [caption id="attachment6714" align="aligncenter" width="399"] © www.kunstbib.dk www.kunstbib.dk [/caption] [caption id="attachment6715*" align="aligncenter" width="613"] © www.bobedre.dk www.bobedre.dk [/caption] [caption id="attachment6716*" align="aligncenter" width="341"] © www.dmk.dk www.dmk.dk [/caption] But like many of his contemporaries, Klint found it difficult to reconcile theory and practice, because although his theories were very socialist, he could not bring himself to industrialise his production. The question of living space was a growing concern at the beginning of the 20th century. Housing was beginning to undergo a metamorphosis, with working-class neighbourhoods springing up everywhere, and although Klint was looking into these issues, his designs were in no way compatible with this section of the population, which could not afford such expensive furniture. The choice of materials (mahogany, leather, etc.) and the fact that the furniture was not industrialised meant that it was unaffordable for these workers. Klint dreamt of the notion of Art for All, but couldn't put it into practice. Klint's furniture was considered somewhat classic, not only because of its shapes, but above all because of the materials used - wood - and this despite some rather innovative research for its time. Among Klint's best-known pieces of furniture is the famous Safari chair. Designed in Denmark in 1936, it was the first chair to be exported unassembled in a small crate. There's also the deck chair, produced from 1933 by Rud Rasmussen, and the folding stool in ash wood, designed around 1933 and also produced by Rud Rasmussen. A complete architect and designer, Kaare Klint not only created furniture, but also funerary monuments, museum fittings and lamps, which are now world-famous under the name Le Klint . In our next article, we'll take a closer look at Kaare Klint's teaching at the Furniture School at Copenhagen Fine Arts. It was this teaching that so influenced all future generations of Danish designers. Sources: www.carlhansen.com | www.leklint.com | www.rudrasmussen.com www.rudrasmussen.com Written by Rikke JACOBSEN Doctor in Art History - Design, graduate of the Sorbonne Paris IV Thesis on the subject of "Wooden furniture after the Second World War".

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