The Ant (Danish: Myren) chair is a classic of modern chair design.[1][2] It was designed in 1952 by Arne Jacobsen for use in the canteen of the Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Industries (now Novo Nordisk).

The Ant
Ant chair on display in Design Museum Denmark
DesignerArne Jacobsen
Date1952
MaterialsPlastic, veneer
Style / traditionModernist
Sold byFritz Hansen (Denmark)

Design

edit

The Ant was named for its approximate similarity to the outline of an ant with its head raised.[3][4][5] The chair was designed to be light, stable, easy to stack up, and to minimise tangling the user's feet. The original model had three plastic legs and a seat made from form-moulded laminated veneer;

History

edit
 
NOVO's Arne Jacobsen-designed factory on Nordre Fasanvej

Jacobsen designed his first building for NOVO Industries on Nordre Fasanvej in 1934–1935 and continued to work for them throughout his career, building several factories in Denmark and Germany. The Ant chair was created for the canteen of the Novo factory in Frederiksberg. Allegedly, Fritz Hansen had already been presented with Jacobsen's Ant chair design but was reluctant to put it into production. When a Novo director visited Jacobsen's studio and showed interest in the model, Jensen told him that it had been created for use in their canteen.[6] Novo Industries ordered 300 of chairs, enough to convince Fritz Hansen that it should go into production. The chair has since proved very popular although the plastic in the legs was replaced by tubular steel, and a version with four legs was also made.[7][8]

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ danish Design store
  2. ^ Designmuseum.org Archived November 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Arne Jacobsen.com". Archived from the original on 2015-11-13. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  4. ^ Sfmoma
  5. ^ Cn Bing Dictionary
  6. ^ "FH3100 / Myren / The Ant Chair by Arne Jacobsen 1952". Danish Design Review (in Danish). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Urban Kaleidoscope". Archived from the original on 2019-09-11. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  8. ^ "Chair classic.com". Archived from the original on 2015-07-31. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
edit