Arne Jacobsen - Major works

Architect and designer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He studied at the Royal Danish Academy, where he later became professor of architecture (1956). He won a House of the Future competition in 1929 and became a leading exponent of Modernism. He designed many private houses in the Bellavista resort near Copenhagen; his main public buildings were the SAS skyscraper in Copenhagen (1955) and St Catherine's College, Oxford (1964). He also designed cutlery and textiles, and classic furniture, especially the ‘Egg’ and ‘Swan’ chairs for his Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

Among his architectural achievements are St Catherine's College, Oxford, work at Merton College, Oxford, the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen, the Danish National Bank building in Copenhagen, as well as a number of town halls and other buildings in his native Denmark.

Many of Jacobsen's furniture designs have become classic, including the Ant chair from 1952 and the Swan and the Egg which were both designed for the Radisson SAS Hotel. Jacobsen is, however, perhaps best known for the Model 3107 chair of 1955, known also as the "Number 7 Chair" which has sold over 5 million copies.

His other visible contribution to pop culture in the media is his flatware design , with right- and left-handed spoons in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, picked for the film because of its "futuristic" design.

St Catherine's College, Oxford, his interpretation of a quadrangle-based college, has all the requisite elements: a quad centered on a lawn (a circle with one or two Cedar of Lebanon trees), student rooms (laid out in two long rows), a garden, a dining hall and SCR, Master's Lodgings, and a "feature" (in this case, a lily pond). Though only staircases 1 and 2 have the original and completed design (and his entire design originally was more extensive, with a three-story layout), the metal shower stalls and bathrooms are intact.

Major works

Furniture

The Ant (1952) Model 3107 chair (1955) The Egg (1958) The Swan (1958)

Architecture

Bellavista in Klampenborg (1933-34) Bellevue Theatre (1935-36) Århus City Hall (1939-42) Søllerød Town Hall (1940-42) Søholm semi-detached houses in Klampenborg (1950-54) Rødovre Town Hall (1957) Glostrup Town Hall (1958) The Munkegård School in Cph (1955-59) SAS Royal Hotel Cph (1958-1960) Toms Chocolate Factories in Ballerup (1961) Danmarks National bank (started in 1965) St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford (1964-66) Hamburger Elektrizitaetswerke Verwaltungsgebaeude in Hamburg (City Nord)