Alot of contemporary and modern furniture is derived from Danish Modern furniture. This article gives a brief description of its origin and what i.ts become today
Many people like or dislike a certain style of furniture, while having no idea of what the style is called. They like antique, European, Early American styles or contemporary styling, yet have no concept that some styles bridge the gap of old and modern furniture. Many do not realize that there is such a thing as Danish Modern Furniture, but people see its influence everyday.
Danish Modern Furniture certainly has its roots in the last century. During the 20th Century, the world was torn apart by war and deprivations. Yet, even in the midst of all that the Scandinavian countries went through during the war years, the people continued to be optimistic and inventive. A product of both the Industrial Revolution and World War I, Danish Modern furniture brought new elements in play in furniture design.
Even another world war could not keep natural optimism at bay for long and with the economic explosion after World War II, Danish Modern furniture caught the attention of a young populace who wanted to forget the horror of the war years as they turned their attention to the future. Danish Modern furniture reflected this new point of view with a style that melded the best of the past with a modern furniture appearance.
Upon the arrival of the 1950s leading into the 1960s, the sky was the limit, industy was taking off and economy was vastly improving which led to people making expensive improvements at home.
Many think of cold, clean, and metal when thinking of contemporary furniture. However Danish Modern (also viewed as contemporary) pieces of furniture are not cold because they are not made of modern cold material. The Danish designers were artists who came from a part of the world that values traditional craftsmanship. The designers drew on this traditional craftsmanship to create contemporary furniture pieces that were beautiful as well as functional.
The comfort of the furniture is, in part, due to the use of natural material such as rich leather and teak hardwood. Danish Modern furniture is more commonly constructed from high quality Asian teak wood. Danish Modern furniture has its unique style which looks great in any room simply because of its simple minimalistic design. Often these designs are based off of using one solid piece of maaterial for the whole thing.
The designers of Danish Modern, such as Arne Jacobsen, Borge Mogensen, Finn Juhl, Kaare Klint, and Poul Kjaerholm, embraced modernism and applied it to their furniture designs. (They combined their knowledge of traditional craftsmanship of furniture making with the crisp, clean lines of modern design. Danish Modern was all about proportions, form and what makes a comfortable piece of furniture.} To this end, they combined traditional natural materials with modern clean, linear form.
Some of the early designers of Danish Modern were architects or cabinet makers who branched out into making furniture. Once the style became popular, pieces were mass produced. However, workmanship, especially in early pieces, is highly prized today. Many early Danish Modern furniture pieces remain in great condition and are both collectible and valuable.
