100-year anniversary: Danish design icon Finn Juhl rediscovered

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Right now, international attention on Danish architects and furniture designers is greater than ever.  A new exhibition in Tokyo (Japan) is showcasing some of Danish designer Finn Juhl’s most important pieces of furniture design. In Gifu (Japan), a 1:1 copy of Finn Juhl's original Danish family house will open later this week and, at the UN headquarters in New York (USA), the Trusteeship Council Chamber, one of Finn Juhl's major works, is currently being renovated. In Sweden and Denmark, too, special events will mark the centennial of Finn Juhl's birth.  

Some architects and designers grow in popularity over time. This seems to be the case for the Danish design icon, Finn Juhl, who would have been 100 years old on Sunday, 30 January 2012. Finn Juhl, whose furniture — most famously, his chairs — helped change the course of design history in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, will be celebrated with a number of major events in Japan, America, and Europe.

Big in Japan
 In Japan, an exhibition entitled ‘The Universe of Finn Juhl’ will open on February 28, 2012 at the Ozone Tower Gallery 1 in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The exhibition will display a broad selection of Finn Juhl's designs including such icons as the Pelican Chair and the Poet Sofa (FJ41). In addition to these well-known classics, the Danish furniture manufacturer Onecollection will present more than 20 different designs by Finn Juhl from the 1940s and 1950s.  Many of them have not been in production for decades but now seem more contemporary than ever before.

The exhibition is curated by the Danish designer Søren Ulrik Petersen. Apart from Finn Juhl's iconic furniture, the exhibition will also showcase brand new furniture designs by award-winning designer Kasper Salto and architect Thomas Sigsgaard for the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN headquarters in New York, which was originally designed by Finn Juhl. The two designers will both be present at the opening and give a lecture on the challenges of the project.

In Gifu (Japan), the Finn Juhl Art Museum Club is constructing a 1:1 copy of Finn Juhl's original Danish home in Ordrup, Denmark. Finn Juhl's private home is today operated as part of the OrdrupgaardArt Museum, whose grounds it adjoins. On January 30, 2012 (Juhl's birthday), an exact copy of Juhl's house will be opened in Gifu for a Japanese audience.  

Footprints in New York
 The most prominent, international example of Finn Juhl’s work – and his legacy in contemporary design – is the Trusteeship Council Chamber in the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Juhl designed the Council Chamber as a comprehensive whole in the 1950s; everything from the colourful ceilings to the wall panels and furniture. During 2012, the Chamber will undergo a full restoration and refurbishment to be completed in January 2013.

See the presentation video of the restoration.

In part to ensure that the restoration is carried out in the spirit of Finn Juhl, the Danish Agency for Culture and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs have commissioned Kasper Salto and Thomas Sigsgaard to provide new furniture for the chamber. The task for the designers is to design a secretariat chair, a secretariat table, and a so-called delegate table that will be both innovative and a natural part of Finn Juhl's original design. Finn Juhl created the chamber as a Gesamtkunstwerk, but the chamber has become the worse for wear after many years of use, and there is a need to perk up the interior with new furniture.

Throughout the year, the centennial will be celebrated with a number of events, highlighting both the restoration project along with contemporary and future Danish furniture design. Check the event calendar on Denmark in the USA to stay updated.

Celebrations in Scandinavia
 In Denmark, the Ordrupgaard Art Museum, north of Copenhagen, will be throwing a birthday bash at Juhl’s nearby private home. Finn Juhl will be celebrated with music, various activities for children, and guided tours of Finn Juhl’s private home, which is open to the public all year round. In Stockholm, Sweden, the Danish Embassy and Onecollection have worked together to produce an exhibition on Finn Juhl's life and his furniture in the big, flashy windows of the embassy at Jakobs Torg in Stockholm.

Read more about Finn Juhl’s house at Ordrupgaard  (Denmark).
Read more about the exhibition in Stockholm   (Sweden).