Slangestolen by Poul Henningsen - new photographs

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Slangestolen was designed by Poul Henningsen in 1932 and is one of the most remarkable chairs produced in Denmark in the 20th century.

It is relatively unusual in having a tubular steel frame. Several designers in the pre-war period produced chromed metal furniture that was in part inspired by designs from the Bauhaus in Germany but the Danish domestic market has always preferred wooden furniture rather than furniture with metal frames that can appear to be overtly industrial.

What makes the design of the Snake Chair remarkable is the sinuous curve of a single length of metal tube that requires not only an incredible understanding of 3D form and space on the part of the designer but also considerable technical skill in bending the metal in a smooth curve through such a complex shape … there is an almost-complete circle set horizontally for a base and then a sweep up to a second, almost-complete circle, for the seat and then on up to a loop in the vertical plane for the back rest.

The frames of the chairs are now made in Switzerland and the precise technique for bending the steel tube is a carefully-guarded secret.

I am very grateful to Søren Vincents Svendsen, the founder and CEO of PH Furniture, and to his staff who generously gave me time and space to photograph in the store in Bredgade.

Photographs in the entry on the chair in Danish Chairs 1900-1999 have been updated.

Slangestolen / The Snake Chair by Poul Henningsen 1932

PH Furniture, Bredgade 6,
1260 Copenhagen

 

Koglen / The Artichoke by Poul Henningsen 1958

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Koglen / The Artichoke was designed in 1958 for the then newly rebuilt pavilion on the Langelinie promenade.

There are 72 leaves or petals to the light arranged in 12 lines of overlapping leaves or petals of graded size diminishing from top to bottom and angled out and down to control the light and obscure the light source to cut out glare.

With four sizes - of which the largest has a diameter of 840 mm and is 720 mm high with a weight close to 28 kilo - the lights have a dramatic impact - even in the largest space. The original lights had a copper finish although options now include versions painted white or with leaves in polished steel and, to mark the anniversary, there is a numbered edition in brushed brass.

Louis Poulsen

Langeliniepavillonen / The Langelinie Pavilion

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approaching the pavilion on the path along the edge of the defences of Kastellet

Langeliniepavillonen from the south east

 
 

drawing for the pavilion designed by Jørn Utzon and a digital simulation of the pavilion for the exhibition Jørn Utzon - Horisont now at the Danish Architecture Center

 If you did a headcount - even if it would be for a rather odd census - then it's possible that the Pavilion on the Langelinie Promenade is seen but ignored by more tourists than any other prominent building in Copenhagen and simply because they are intent in their route march there and their route march back to see Den Lille Havfrue - the Little Mermaid - on the foreshore just beyond the pavilion.

However, the pavilion has an odd and complicated and fascinating history that should be better known … particularly as, but not just because, this year is the 60th anniversary year of the present building.

Langeliniepavillonen is on the site of a water gate on the outer defences of Kastellet … the 17th-century fortress that guarded the approach to the harbour from the sound from the north.

By the late 19th century, although there was still a garrison in Kastellet, the main defences had been established further out at Charlottenlund, some 6 kilometres to the north beyond Hellerup, and this thin strip of land between the sound and the outer water-filled defence of the fortress was used by the worthy citizens of Copenhagen as a promenade. The first pavilion here, built in 1885, was designed by Vilhelm Dahlerup for Dansk Forening for Lystsejlads (the Danish organisation for boating) but that was replaced in 1902 by a pavilion designed by Fritz Koch that included facilities for Kongelig Dansk Yachtklub (the royal Danish yacht club).

This was a popular destination for citizens just beyond gardens with sculptures and a walk could continue on to the long wide promenade along the sea side of the Langlelinie Kaj that had been built at the beginning of the 20th century as the outer quay of the new Free Port.

The pavilion was shelled and destroyed by the Germans in 1944 and it was not until 1954 that a competition was held to design a new pavilion. The chosen design was by Eva and Nils Koppel and the new pavilion was completed by 1958.

It is a slightly strange building … or at least it is strange for the location … starkly modern and of its period, so much closer in style and details of glazing and fittings to the contemporary design of the SAS Hotel by Arne Jacobsen than it was to the ornate pavilion it replaced that had polygonal end towers and ornate domes.

LP_SoMe_Historisk_18.jpg

There were large dining rooms in a huge low square box raised up and cantilevered out on all four sides over a lower floor containing the entrance and service rooms. A service road cuts under the sea side but with the room above connecting across to a terrace and the promenade walk. These public rooms had huge windows that look out over the sea or look across the outer water and banks of the defences of Kastellet.

A photograph of the dining room taken in 1959 shows the large lamps - the Koglen or Artichoke lamp designed for this building by Poul Henningsen.

The current exhibition at the Danish Architecture Centre on the work of Jørn Utzon has a model and a reconstruction of the design that Utzon submitted for the competition for a new pavilion. He proposed an amazing pagoda with outer walls of glass and the floors springing out from a central stem with staircases and lifts.

Surely his design has to be one of the most intriguing and spectacular buildings of unbuilt Copenhagen … those buildings for the city that did not get beyond the architects drawings.

an anniversary ... the PH 5 at 60

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The PH 5 light designed by Poul Henningsen was first produced by Louis Poulsen, the Danish lighting company, in 1958. For the anniversary the company has produced the light in new combinations of colours and they have also launched a scaled-down version of the light ... the overall diameter of the original design is 500mm and 267mm high and the new PH 5 MINI has a diameter of 300mm and is 163mm high.

Louis Poulsen

the PH 5 was featured in a post here in November on this site in the series design classic

the house of Poul Henningsen

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The house designed by Poul Henningsen for himself and his family in Gentofte, a suburb of Copenhagen, and completed in 1937 was purchased by Realdania By & Byg in 2014. 

After an extensive programme of restoration work, returning the house to its original appearance, it will be leased but just for this week the public has been allowed access. 

It will be open on Saturday and Sunday the 17th and 18th September from 13:00 to 17:00.

Brogårdsvej 72, 2820 Gentofte