Bodil Kjær is as precise as the architectural lines of her furniture. Ahead of an interview, she sends talking points that read like a manifesto: ‘I am not a furniture designer; I am a designer of environments. I am concerned about solving problems of the kind that can be defined. I am concerned about delight and beauty rather than opulence and vulgarity.’
She turned 90 in March and is as clear, forthright and consistent as the texts that she wrote 45 or more years ago. When asked if she is surprised about the full-on revival of interest in her designs, Kjær says, ‘No, I have done the same thing all along.’ It just took a while for a new generation to catch up. ‘I go out, I see a problem and I work with other people to solve it. That’s what I say to young people – don’t compete with each other about who can make the fanciest chair. There are many problems that need solving by a designer – go and find them.’
This clarity of purpose goes some way towards explaining why Kjær’s elegant creations from the late 1950s to mid-1960s have proved so timeless. The chairs, tables, desks, lights and vases were never created as objects per se, but rather designed in the broader context of space, as what she calls ‘elements of architecture’, to address specific problems relating to use and aesthetics.
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Denne historien er fra May 2022-utgaven av Wallpaper.
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Guiding Light - Designer Joe Armitage follows his grandfather's footsteps in India, reissuing his elegant midcentury lamp and creating a new chandelier for Nilufar Gallery
For some of us, family inheritances I tend to be burdensome, taking up space, emotionally and physically, in both our minds and attics. For the London-based designer and architect Joe Armitage, however, a family heirloom has taken him somewhere lighter and brighter, across generations and continents, and into the path of Le Corbusier. This is the story of a lamp designed by Edward Armitage in India 72 years ago, which has today been expanded into a collection of lights by his grandson Joe.
POLE POSITION
A compact Melbourne house with a small footprint is big on efficiency and experimentation
URBAN OASIS
At an art-filled Mexico City residence, New York designer Giancarlo Valle has put his own spin on the country's traditional craft heritage
WARM FRONT
Designer Clive Lonstein elevates his carefully curated Manhattan home with rich textures and fabrics
BALCONY SCENE
A Brazilian island hotel offers a unique approach to the alfresco experience
ENSEMBLE CAST
How architect Anne Holtrop is leaving his mark on the Middle East
Survival mode
A new show looks at preparing for a post-apocalyptic landscape (and other catastrophes)
FLASK FORCE
A limited-edition perfume collaboration between two Spanish craft masters says it with flowers
BLOOM SERVICE
A flower-shaped brutalist beauty in Geneva gets a refresh
SECOND NATURE
A remodelled museum in Lisbon, by Kengo Kuma & Associates, meshes Japanese and Portuguese influences to create a space that sits in harmony with its surroundings