
Poul M. Volther (2 January 1923 – 23 January 2001) was a Danish furniture designer who is remembered above all for his iconic Corona Chair. He succeeded
Børge Mogensen
Børge Mogensen (13 April 1914 – 5 October 1972), was a Danish furniture designer.
He was one of the most important among a generation of furniture designers who made the concept of “Danish Modern” known throughout the world. Together wit ...
as artistic director of
FDB Møbler
FDB Møbler is a Danish furniture company established in 1942. It was formerly a subsidiary of Coop amba, FDB (now called ''Coop amba''). Børge Mogensen served as the design studio manager and many of his designs are sold by the company. Mogense ...
in 1950.
Early life
First trained as a cabinetmaker, Volther studied furniture design at the Arts and Crafts School in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. A believer in
Functionalism, he avoided short-lived aesthetic trends, concentrating on the simple crafting of quality materials. As a teacher at Denmark's Design School, he encouraged hundreds of students to aim for high quality craftsmanship. With the support of designer
Hans Wegner
Hans Jørgensen Wegner (April 2, 1914 – January 26, 2007) was a Danish furniture designer. His work, along with a concerted effort from several of his manufacturers, contributed to the international popularity of mid-century Danish design. His ...
, he was employed from 1949 by the cooperative
FDB Møbler
FDB Møbler is a Danish furniture company established in 1942. It was formerly a subsidiary of Coop amba, FDB (now called ''Coop amba''). Børge Mogensen served as the design studio manager and many of his designs are sold by the company. Mogense ...
, working in their design studio under the leadship of
Børge Mogensen
Børge Mogensen (13 April 1914 – 5 October 1972), was a Danish furniture designer.
He was one of the most important among a generation of furniture designers who made the concept of “Danish Modern” known throughout the world. Together wit ...
. Mogensen left FDB in 1950, leaving Volther in charge from 1950-55. He went on to design a series of
Windsor chairs
Windsor may refer to:
Places
*Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region
Australia New South Wales
*Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...
, rather simpler in style than Mogensen's own. He also designed a wide variety of armchairs and sofas which can still be seen in homes throughout Denmark and are still in production.
Developing the Corona Chair
His early chair designs were based on a series of cushions separated by open spaces in order to economize on materials which were difficult to obtain after the Second World War. The first model, the Pyramid Chair from 1953, with foam and cloth elements, was far from successful. But the same basic approach eventually led to his masterpiece, the Corona Chair, first designed in 1961. The original consisted of a wooden skeleton on which a series of oval cushions provided the seat and the rising back. The idea was that it would allow the body to relax in various positions. The following year, as the result of cooperation between Volther and the recently established Erik Jørgensen furniture factory, a new model with a chrome-plated steel frame was marketed in 1964. But it was still far from successful.
Some 20 years later, yet another variant was presented at the furniture fair in Cologne, receiving a good press but not selling too well. Nevertheless, Erik Jørgensen's firm persisted. In 1997, the chair was presented both at the Cologne fair and at the Scandinavian Furniture Fair at the
Bella Center
Bella Center (abbreviated BC) is Scandinavia's second largest exhibition and conference center (after Messecenter Herning), and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Located in Ørestad between the city centre and Copenhagen Airport, it offers an ...
in Copenhagen. This time it was a resounding success. The Corona was used at the 2002 EU Summit in Copenhagen, the year after Volther died. Today, with its elliptical, blow-up cushions, it has reached iconic status, becoming Jørgensen's most successful item, with sales of almost 3,000 a year.
Gitte Just, "Poul M. Volther"
''Fri'', 22 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
See also
*Danish modern
Danish modern also known as Scandinavian modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture de ...
*Danish design
Danish design is a style of functionalistic design and architecture that was developed in mid-20th century. Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volther, Poul
Danish furniture designers
1923 births
2001 deaths
Danish modern