CH004

Carl Hansen founded his company on the firm belief that high-quality craftsmanship and mass production could go hand in hand, thus guaranteeing the end consumer a high-quality product at a reasonable price. Even today, this simple but important idea is the basis of Carl Hansen & Søn's production, which combines cutting-edge production technologies with traditional woodworking techniques. Much of the furniture produced today was designed by some of Denmark's greatest architects between the 1930s and 1960s.

Hans J. Wegner, born in 1914 in Tønder, is considered one of the greatest representatives of modern Danish design. At just 14 years old he began working as an apprentice to a Danish cabinetmaker and subsequently moved to Copenhagen, where he attended the School of Arts and Crafts. In 1938 Wegner, after being contacted by Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller, designed furniture for the new town hall in Aarhus. After further collaborations with Jacobsen, Wegner struck out on his own, often working together with Børge Mogensen. Its commercial success, however, was due to the collaboration with the Carl Hansen & Søn, for whom he designed various pieces of furniture, such as the very famous Wishbone Chair, still in production today, which continued almost until the designer's death in Copenhagen in 2007. Many design museums around the world still exhibit his works, such as the MoMa in New York and the Designmuseum Denmark in Copenhagen.