Arne Jacobsen - Mid Century Celebrity
It's not easy to decide who had the most influence on mid century modern design in Denmark. There was definitely something in the water back then because Denmark easily gave birth to more than a dozen designers and/or architects who are highly regarded today for their designs and contributions.
I'm going to focus on Arne Jacobsen. I'm partial to his furniture designs and his vision for every step of the design and construction of the SAS Hotel in 1960. It is now owned by Radisson Hotels (known as Radisson Collection - Royal Copenhagen), but the place still oozes with top notch modern ambience.
In 1941, Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) formed Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and later decided to build a terminal in the center of Copenhagen with a connected hotel. You could check in for your flight, drop your luggage and get a ride via bus to the airport. You could add a hotel stay on either end of your trip. Arne Jacobsen was chosen as the architect for the project and he took his skills much further to design everything (the buses, door hardware, ashtrays, flatware, and the list seems endless).
The SAS Hotel was the first skyscraper at 22 floors in the city center (there still are not many high rises here) and the Danes were not so sure they liked it. It's been referred to as the "punch card" we used to put in the time clock for work. I think a walk inside and a dive deeper into what Jacobsen was going for will make everyone see it in a positive light. Thanks to Radisson for keeping the Arne Jacobsen look in place - and for something 62 years old it still holds up to being cool and contemporary.
Jacobsen wanted to bring the colors of Copenhagen together - colors of the water (harbors and lakes are all around the city center), the sky - be it blue or grey - and green of trees and nature. He worked meticulously to create a palette for decorating the rooms, hallways, furniture, curtains, carpet. The aluminum framed exterior panels of the building are made of green and grey anodized glass - again reflecting the colors of the surrounding city.
Room 606 at the hotel is left as it was in 1960. A museum of sorts to honor Jacobsen and all his clever concepts for view points, the band of light and how it reflects from the windows, a moving light fixture that moves along a groove in the wood paneling for reading or working, and right down to the blue cording on the bottom of the sheer drapes to resemble waves of water. The room looks ready for a party with plenty of furniture and an old mini refrigerator.
The room features Jacobsen's famous chairs: The Egg, The Swan, The Drop and the chair he designed for the SAS Terminal.
The SAS Terminal is long gone, but the space has been transformed into conference rooms and a fitness center - still taking advantage of the rooftop glass panels for natural light. The iconic floating circular stairway is still the focal point of the hotel lobby. Radisson has remodeled the entire hotel (with the exception of Room 606) without moving too far away from the Arne Jacobsen SAS Hotel feeling. Most guest rooms still have the Jacobsen "Swan" and "Drop" chairs and the lobby is also a big tribute with his chairs in several settings where anyone can get that sit and get that mid-mod hygge feeling.
Radisson took the room remodel designs one step further and they now give tribute to other Danish designers. There is a Poul Kjaerholm Suite featuring his famous folding and lounge chairs. There are also suites paying tribute to Fritz Hansen and Cecilie Manz.
If you are ever in Copenhagen put the SAS Hotel (Radisson Royal Copenhagen) on your list of sites to see. Just walk into the lobby and you get the idea of what Arne Jacobsen was going for.
Skål from me (and Room 606). All I needed was a cigarette for the Arne Jacobsen ashtray.
