The CH25 lounge chair, like many of Hans J. Wegner’s other iconic designs, is clean and simple in its distinctive shape. But its introduction caused a stir due to Wegner’s choice of materials on the backrest and seat. The woven paper cord, a replacement for seagrass developed during World War II, had not been used in furniture before. However, Wegner was enthusiastic about the look of the material and its non-stretching and optimal durability, and so were generations after him. The CH25 lounge chair has remained tremendously popular and has been in continuous production since 1950: a testament to Wegner’s visionary approach. It takes a skilled craftsman 10 hours and approximately 400 meters of paper cord to complete one seat and backrest by hand, using a particular technique resembling weaving, which is visible on both sides of the backrest. The striking result of this exacting process is an exceptional chair that is fascinating from all angles.
Son of a shoe-maker in southern Jutland, Hans Wegner, finished his formal training as a cabinetmaker with master cabinetmaker Stahlberg in 1930 before starting at Teknologisk Institut in Copenhagen. He soon moved to the School of Arts and Crafts in the Danish capital where he became architect in 1938, and started teaching in 1946.
In 1940 he joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Arhus, to design the furniture for the new Arhus city hall. He started to work with 'minister' cabinetmaker Johannes Hansen in 1940 and showed his first furniture in the famous Hansen store on Bredgade 65 in 1941. Johannes Hansen was more than twice as old as the 26 year old Wegner but the unique collaboration between the two became the undisputed backbone of Danish furniture design and the main reason for it's world wide recognition in the fifties and sixties. The Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry acquired the first Wegner chair in 1942.
In 1943 he started his own design office and 1 year later designed the first of a long series of 'chinese' chairs inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Ming chairs for Fritz Hansen. In 1950 Wegner designed the “Wishbone Chair” produced by Carl Hansen & Søn in Odense which became the most successful of all Wegner chairs. Most well known for it’s use by Kennedy and Nixon in their famous CBS TV debate of 1960.
Inspiration
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
Hee Welling x HAY Designer talks. In conversation with Hee Welling
