Finn Juhl’s Furniture Designs | Interior Design
Evolution, not revolution – this is the motto that Danish furniture design followed in the early 20th century. Until the young architect and designer Finn Juhl stepped on the scene and stirred things up with his daring concepts.The revolution could have been a different one: fascinated by the plastic works of Henry Moore, Hans Arp, Barbara Hepworth and Erik Thommesen, Finn Juhl initially had wanted to become an art historian. His father, however, convinced him to take on studies of architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Arts, possibly as this would promise a more reliable source of income.
Between 1930 and 1934, Juhl attended the academy, but left school without a degree. During his studies, he had taken a job with the leading architect of Danish modernism, Vilhelm Lauritzen, working on a broad range of interesting projects, including interior design.
Starting in 1937, Finn Juhl began realizing his first chair designs alongside the cabinetmaker Niels Vodder. Danish furniture design at the time was dominated by the ideas of Kaare Klint, who stood for a clear and formal design vocabulary, along the lines of Neue Sachlichkeit. Furniture was thought up with a primary focus on function, the lines were straight and the material, mostly nordic hardwoods, curbed most daring forms.
To cabinetmakers, it mattered that the constructions were clearly visible to allow a better look at refined ligatures and bold statics. It does therefore not come as a surprise that this focus on expediency resulted in few revolutionary pieces and challenged a young Finn Juhl to break those boundaries which until then had gone uncontradicted.
The Grasshopper Chair from 1938 shows Finn Juhl's preference for sculptural forms. The armrests are positioned like the insect's jumping legs.
The designer designed the Nyhavn desk for his first own studio. The FJ46 Chair complements it to create a timelessly modern workplace.
One of his first designs, the Pelican Chair, is probably one of his most famous today. When it was presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmaking Fair in 1940, reactions were divided. Anyone who sees the design can guess what provoked experts and the public: the thickly upholstered chair with soft, organic shapes, heavy and expansive, was a radical break with the prevailing aesthetic. Juhl did not design modern versions of well-known furniture, but rather focused on sculptural, abstract and yet organic forms with an almost childlike impartiality. By drawing on the animal world, Juhl freed himself from the constraints of craftsmanship and incorporated inspiration from the fine arts into his design. Already the grasshopper chair from 1938, whose raised armrests resemble the insect’s jumping legs, anticipated this joy of experimentation.
This was followed in 1941 by the very straight-lined Poet Sofa (FJ41), a two-seater on which two people sit slightly inclined towards each other thanks to the gentle curve of the backrest. A comfortable place for a friendly conversation, not too formal, not too intimate. A more conciliatory design, the shape of which still seemed very self-confident, but less polarizing.
What followed was a productive phase with many designs showcasing Juhls love for organic shapes and floating constructions in an artful manner. The Bone Chair (FJ44) is said to be his personal favorite design. It got its name from its intricate curved shape, seeming like a naturally grown support structure – brilliant and natural like a skeleton providing mobility and support to the body.
For his first own design office in Copenhagen he designed the wonderfully graceful Nyhavn desk (BO69) in 1945. A wooden tabletop on an oxidized steel frame, whose four slim legs end with wooden feet. Later on, he designed an iconic drawer unit for this desk. These drawers have different colors and are suspended underneath the tabletop.
Another milestone is the FJ45 Chair, whose construction is remarkable in the sense that Juhl and Vodder achieved a visual separation between the upholstery and the supporting structure. At the time of its conception, the chair could only be made by hand, much like most of his designs. The characteristic teak wood, today synonymous with Scandinavian design, was attainable only after the second World War. Troop movements during the confrontations between the U.S. and Japan in the Philippines resulted in large areas being cleared of the precious wood. While the reason for the export was terrible, the designers quickly recognized the quality of this raw material: The exotic wood is extraordinarily hard and captivates with its beautiful grain and naturally dark hue.
A favorable publishing in the American interior design magazine “Interiors” in 1948 was the starting point for the designer’s big success in the U.S. From 1951 onward, Baker Furniture produced 24 exclusive Finn Juhl designs adjusted for industrial production – of course, only after the designer was able to personally inspect the high quality standards on site during production. This collaboration and the therefore increased visibility opened the door of the American market to Danish design, and helped shape the impact it has since had in furniture history.
In the late sixties, the designer’s success came to a halt; new materials and ideas had surfaced, more suited to the Zeitgeist. A democratization of furniture design through lower production cost garnered importance in the public perception. Part of being a classic is being rediscovered. This happened to Finn Juhl in the 1990s. Original pieces caused bidding wars at auctions – an original Pelican Chair changed hands for 57.000 USD in 2002.
These days, no one questions the impact of his designs, they form part of the collections of the most renowned design museums in the world. Since the 2000s, the manufacturer House of Finn Juhl has taken on re-issuing Juhl’s designs. The originals were individual items which did not always match the drafts exactly. Each piece carried its cabinetmaker’s individual note. Today’s challenge is to understand the designer’s idea and to play on it in its truest sense for form and production. The production is mostly based in Denmark in an effort to keep tradition and meet standards of quality and durability. Much of the upholstery is done by hand, the making of the sophisticated wooden constructions is supported by modern technology in our digital age, aiding in making Finn Juhl furniture even more precise.
Are you curious to find out more? We are happy to offer the Finn Juhl collection exclusively in Munich and are looking forward to showing you around the hand-picked pieces in our showroom. Here you will find an insight into the collection
Finn Juhl on the Chieftain Chair with the family dog Bonnie (left). The manufacturer House of Finn Juhl has the upholstery work carried out in Denmark (middle). The Baker Sofa from 1951 was the first result of the collaboration with the American manufacturer Baker Furniture (right).
