DANISH ARCHITECT AND PROFESSOR · 1888–1954
Kaare Klint
Kaare Klint is the teacher behind Danish furniture design. Wegner, Mogensen and Kjærholm all went to his school, and his own furniture is still produced by Carl Hansen & Søn and Rud. Rasmussen.
Proportion rather than style
Klint was the son of the architect P.V. Jensen-Klint, who designed Grundtvig’s Church. He helped establish the furniture school at the Royal Academy in 1924 and taught there until his death. His method was to measure: people, cupboards, plates and old furniture. From the measurements he designed furniture that fitted the body and the things it was to hold.
He built on English and Chinese models rather than inventing new forms, and he emphasised materials that age beautifully: mahogany, oak, saddle leather and linen.
Klint furniture today
The Faaborg Chair from 1914 was his first piece of furniture, designed for Faaborg Museum together with Carl Petersen. The Red Chair from 1927 was designed for the Museum of Decorative Arts, and the Safari Chair from 1933 can be assembled without tools. The Church Chair from 1936 still stands in Bethlehem Church.
Klint’s upholstered furniture is simple to reupholster, because the construction is honest and easy to take apart. Where possible we use the same materials he specified himself.