Arne Jacobsen

Arne Jacobsen – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Explore the life, design philosophy, major projects, and memorable quotes of Arne Jacobsen (1902–1971), the Danish architect and designer whose holistic approach to “total design” remains a cornerstone of modern architecture and mid-century style.

Introduction

Arne Emil Jacobsen (11 February 1902 – 24 March 1971) was a Danish architect, designer, and a pivotal figure in 20th-century modernism. He championed an integrated approach to design—architectural, interior, furniture, cutlery, lighting—believing that every detail within a space should be harmonized. His work continues to influence architecture, product design, and the aesthetic of everyday living.

Jacobsen’s significance lies not only in his iconic buildings, such as the SAS Royal Hotel, but also in how he elevated utilitarian objects—chairs, lighting, cutlery—to works of refined design. His commitment to proportion, clarity, and human-centric modernism has made his creations enduring staples in museums, homes, and architectural curricula.

Early Life and Family

Arne Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 11 February 1902.

As a youth, he apprenticed in masonry and stonework, giving him hands-on experience in building that would inform his later architectural sensitivity.

Youth, Education & Influences

At the Academy, Jacobsen was exposed to the rationalist and functionalist currents emerging across Europe—Bauhaus, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe—and these would influence his clean geometry, material clarity, and modern sensibility.

While still a student, in 1925 he won a silver medal at the Paris Exposition (Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes) for a chair design, marking an early foray into furniture.

In 1929, together with Flemming Lassen, Jacobsen designed the “House of the Future,” a speculative modern home with futuristic amenities (rolling-down windows, helipad, boathouse, etc.). The design won recognition and launched his public reputation.

Soon after, he established his own practice, applying modernist principles to houses, public buildings, and entire residential complexes.

Career, Major Works & Achievements

Architectural Breakthroughs

One of Jacobsen’s earliest public successes came in the Bellevue area north of Copenhagen (early 1930s). He designed the Bellavista residential complex, Bellevue Sea Baths, kiosks, changing huts, and even employee uniforms and signage, manifesting his belief in holistic design.

Another early notable project was Stelling House in central Copenhagen (1930s), a modern building inserted into a historic context—provoking public debate about modern architecture in older urban settings.

Jacobsen, with Erik Møller, won the competition for Aarhus City Hall (built early 1940s). The building’s original design omitted a tower, but public demand led to inclusion of a clock tower, integrated into the plan.

During World War II, Jacobsen—of partial Jewish descent—fled Denmark in 1943 to Sweden, where he worked on textile and wallpaper design.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Jacobsen’s signature projects include:

• Søholm housing (terraced houses in Klampenborg)

• Rødovre Town Hall (1952–56) with expressive structural systems and modern civic ideals

• Munkegaard School (1957) – classrooms opening to gardens, blending architecture and nature

• SAS Royal Hotel, Copenhagen (1958–60) — perhaps his most famous project, conceived as a “design hotel” where every element—building, furniture, lighting, fixtures—was by Jacobsen.

• St Catherine’s College, Oxford — an international commission that let Jacobsen apply his total design approach beyond Denmark.

• National Bank of Denmark — a later major civic work begun in the mid-1960s and completed after his death.

Jacobsen’s later projects also extended abroad, such as municipal and campus buildings in Germany and diplomatic commissions (some completed posthumously).

Furniture, Objects & Holistic Design

Though architecture was Jacobsen’s primary medium, many of his fame and legacy come from furniture and product design—always tied to his architectural projects, never separate from them.

Key designs:

• Ant Chair (1952) — a light, stackable chair of molded plywood, made for a canteen environment.

• Series 7 / “Number 7” Chair (1955) — arguably his most iconic, widely produced; famously used in a photograph as a prop in 1963.

• Egg & Swan Chairs (1958) — created for the SAS Royal Hotel interiors, sculptural and welcoming forms.

• AJ Table Lamp (1957) — lighting design that reflects his integration of form and utility.

• Cutlery / Cylinda Line — kitchenware, silverware, and faucet systems (e.g. VOLA taps) designed to match his architectural logic.

In many of his architectural projects, Jacobsen treated every component—door handles, signage, textiles, lighting, fixtures—as part of a unified design language.

Historical Milestones & Context

• Jacobsen’s work embodies postwar Scandinavia’s embrace of modernism, welfare state infrastructures, and the integration of design into public life.

• His “total design” or Gesamtkunstwerk approach resonated with contemporaneous European modernists, but with a distinctly human and proportioned Scandinavian touch.

• His flight during WWII to Sweden connects his life to broader histories of persecution and resilience; design during exile (textiles, wallpapers) kept his creativity alive.

• With rebuilding after the war, Jacobsen’s architecture addressed practical needs—housing shortages, public buildings—while keeping aesthetic integrity.

• His influence spread beyond Denmark: his furniture became global design icons, and his architectural commissions abroad attest to his international reputation.

Legacy and Influence

Arne Jacobsen’s legacy endures in multiple realms:

• His furniture designs are still produced and celebrated as design classics; the Series 7, Egg, Swan, and Ant chairs remain in continuous demand.

• Architectural pedagogy often cites Jacobsen as a master of proportion, integration, and human-scale modernism.

• The notion that architecture can be holistic—embracing objects, interiors, signage, hardware—is part of his lasting conceptual imprint.

• His works in Denmark—public buildings, schools, civic halls—remain landmarks and functional sites.

• The firm Dissing+Weitling, founded by his associates, carried forward some of his unfinished projects, ensuring continuity of his aesthetic vision.

• Museums, exhibitions, monographs, and design historians continue to study his unique intersection of architecture and industrial design.

Personality, Philosophy & Talents

Jacobsen was known as intensely dedicated, exacting, and obsessive about his work. He reportedly found little separation between rest and work; shifting between different design tasks felt relaxing to him.

He emphasized proportion as fundamental:

“The proportion is exactly what makes the beautiful ancient Egyptian temples … if we look at some of the most admired buildings … they were all well-proportioned.”

He accepted the limits and shifting demands of utility:

“With a painter or a sculptor, one cannot begin to alter his works, but an architect has to put up with anything, because he makes utility objects – the building is there to be used, and times change.”

He also acknowledged doubt and striving:

“There is always a point when one senses one’s lack of skill, the doubt.”

And:

“That business of relaxation … my work interests me so much … many times it seems relaxing when I go from one aspect to another.”

These remarks reveal a man who saw design not as a compartment but as a continuum—and who embraced both rigor and uncertainty in service of coherence.

Famous Quotes of Arne Jacobsen

Here are some of the better-known quotations attributed to Jacobsen:

• “There is always a point when one senses one’s lack of skill, the doubt.”

• “With a painter or a sculptor, one cannot begin to alter his works, but an architect has to put up with anything, because he makes utility objects … the building is there to be used, and times change.”

• “That business of relaxation, which is so terribly modern today … many times it seems relaxing when I go from one aspect to another.”

• “When I travel, I draw and paint sketches … as long as you are fully aware that it has nothing to do with actual art, I think that’s all right.”

• “Clearly, if a building is not functionally and …” (ellipsis in source)

• “Carrying out the thing, getting it to the point when one might say: There, now it is good — that point is hard to reach. Often, one sets very high goals for oneself. Perhaps too high.”

• “But inspiration? — That’s when you come home from abroad … None of us has invented the house; that was done many thousands of years ago.”

These quotes reflect his humility, awareness of challenge, and commitment to functional beauty over rhetorical flourish.

Lessons from Arne Jacobsen

From Jacobsen’s life and work, several enduring lessons emerge:

1. Design the whole, not just parts
   Jacobsen’s principle of “total design” reminds us that every detail—from building to cutlery—is part of a coherent vision.

2. Proportion is foundational
   He saw proportion not as decorative but as the organizing logic of beauty and utility.

3. Embrace utility with dignity
   His willingness to accept that buildings and objects must change over time shows a mature pragmatism married to aesthetic rigor.

4. Struggle and doubt fuel refinement
   Jacobsen’s own awareness of limits and striving suggests that great design evolves through tension, not effortless genius.

5. Continual cross-disciplinary curiosity
   His movement between architecture, furniture, textiles, cutlery, and lighting demonstrates how creative insight often comes at intersections.

Conclusion

Arne Jacobsen remains a towering figure in architecture and design because he never separated structure from object, detail from form, utility from beauty. His projects still stand—and his furniture still lives in daily use—testifying to a vision that is both lofty and grounded.