EASY CHAIRS
Many design pieces (Scandinavian and otherwise) have graced the silver screen.
Today, more than ever, the midcentury modern look is everywhere. DVRs are set to capture Mad Men's final season playing out on AMC. One of the chairs used in Don Drapers office is the FD-146 armchair by Peter Hvidt & Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen:
Several pieces of Scandinavian furniture and homeware have been featured in films like Pantella light in Me Without You, Hans J. Wegners Shell chair and Arne Jacobsens Swan chair in The Incredibles, Wegner Ox chair in Austin Powers, and the list goes on: Marimekko in Sex and the City and Arne Jacobsen’s Cylinda Line (stainless-steel tableware) in Star Trek Next Generation. Borgen and The Killing were filled with Poul Henningsen lamps for Louis Poulsen, as well as lots of other Danish manufacturers furniture and lights.
The Egg Chair by Jacobsen
In a late 90s television ad for L'Oreal, Heather Locklear appears seated on an Arne Jacobsen Egg chair. The same design appeared again in a Razr phone print ad in 2008.
The Egg Chair was designed by Jacobsen in 1958 for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. It’s iconic shape and high back makes for a little privacy and is therefore often found in public spaces. This chair looks equally stunning in a domestic environment, including the home of Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) in the Scandinavian TV drama The Bridge. In the Bridge the character Martin Rohde has some classic Danish furniture in his house including a Jacobsen Egg Chair.
The Ox chair by Wegner
Ox Chair in Austin Powers entry-title - The scene would be nothing without the chair:
With a distinctive headrest reminiscent of ox horns, the Ox Chair is an iconic modern classic by Hans J. Wegner, created in 1960. A padded chair, usually covered with oxhide and raised off the floor by light but strong legs in chromium-plated steel.
It was Wegner’s own favourite chair at home because quite simply, it is comfortable. It is also very commanding. What’s not to like?
This handsome chair is also the essence of masculinity and was chosen for Mike Myers portrayal of Doctor Evil in Austin Powers (1997) to parody the high-backed, black leather chair that Donald Pleasence sits in as Blofeld in the Bond movie You Only Live Twice (1967), and perhaps also to underline Myers comedic interpretation of power and authority of the Dr. Evil character.
The Corona Chair by Poul M Volther
You will find Jack Nicholson sitting on a blue version in the 1971 film Carnal Knowledge and there is a white one in Roger Sterling’s office in Mad Men.
