Copenhagen, Denmark, 11/02/1902 – Copenhagen, Denmark, 24/03/1971
Arne Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen where he also studied, graduating from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1928. In 1930 he began practising as an architect and designer. Being Jewish, during the Second World War he was forced to take refuge at Stockholm, where he began designing textiles. At the end of the war many materials were in very short supply and Jacobsen returned to the traditional materials and methods of his country, giving them however a contemporary look. Jacobsen was the first to introduce functionalism in Denmark. Characteristic in his work are abstract and geometric forms such as the circle, cylinder, triangle and cube.
Amongst his most innovative projects are “the house of the future” (1929), a round building which included space for both a helicopter and speedboat, and in 1961 the first tower blocks in Copenhagen. He was always interested in the “total design” which included the interiors and furnishings of his buildings such as those for the Royal SAS hotel or the light fittings and chairs for St Catherine’s College in Oxford. Some of the products he designed for the home such as the Ant chair or Cylinda-Line tableware are still in production.
There have been many exhibitions in Europe (Copenhagen, Zurich, Paris, Barcelona) dedicated to him and his work. He has won many international awards for his architecture and product design and has been professor, honorary professor and member of various European faculties and universities.