Poul Kjærholm 1929 - 1980

Designer of furniture and interiors. In 1949 Poul Kjærholm studied at the School of Arts and Crafts (Kunsthandvaerkerskolen) in Copenhagen. Despite his traditional training as a cabinate maker, Kjærholm designed furniture for industrial production by E. Kold Christensen, combining stainless or chromed steel frames with natural materials such as rattan, canvas, leather, timber and rope.

Like the Bauhaus designers with whom he is sometimes compared, Kjærholm was uncompromising in his insistence on structural clarity and technical quality. However, his personal concern for everyday use did much to popularize the austere functionalist style with which he is associated.

In 1976 he was appointed Professor of furniture design at Copenhagen's Royal Academy a position he held up until his death in 1980.

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