Danish Modern for the twenty-first century

The iconic Trusteeship Council Chamber – also called The Finn Juhl Chamber at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York was inaugurated on April 25th 2013 after a complete renovation. Both the reissue of the original chairs and the new chairs and tables have been developed and produced by the furniture manufacturer Onecollection in Denmark.

When the United Nations’ Headquarters were built more than 60 years ago, the Danish nation donated the design and furnishings for The Trusteeship Council Chamber. It was the young architect Finn Juhl who was tasked with the prestigious challenge. He created a historic design that came to have international consequences for Denmark as a design nation. His style became known as Danish Modern.

Finn Juhl intended to create a so-called Gesamtkunstwerk – an all-embracing art form where every design element complements each other to create a functional and aesthetic unity. The Chamber is a beautiful and important testament to Danish cultural heritage and is often referred to as The Finn Juhl Chamber.

In connection with the current renovation to the U.N. complex on Manhattan, Denmark again chose to make a donation to the U.N. This time, the money was earmarked for ensuring that the Finn Juhl Chamber was brought back to its original condition as well as for introducing modern Danish design on this prestigious global stage.

Two hundred and sixty of Finn Juhl’s original delegate chair, the so-called FJ 51 from 1951, have been specially re-issued for the Chamber. Madein American walnut and with exactly the same shade of blue woollen upholstery as originally chosen by Finn Juhl according to his 60-year-old material card. The fabric is designed by the Danish weaver Hanne Vedel.

Since 1998, the designer furniture manufacturer Onecollection has produced the architect Finn Juhl’s organic furniture designs from the 1940’s and 50’s. Not only does Onecollection master complicated design re-launches, but the company has also developed, produced and delivered Finn Juhl’s modern heir: Salto & Sigsgaard’s new chair named The Council Chair and newcustom-made tables also designed by Salto & Sigsgaardin a completely new lay out for the Chamber.

It is the young design team of architect Thomas Sigsgaard and designer Kasper Salto who grasped the spirit of the Chamber and elegantly transposed Finn Juhl’s legacy into the 21st century with their sculpture of a moulded shell chair.

The shells of the seat and back are produced in moulded Reholz 3D veneer. Inside, the tight organic upholstery in natural leather fits the body like a glove. The elegant swivel base is cast in aluminium.

”It has been enormously challenging but also a lot of fun to be part of the process of creating Salto & Sigsgaards furniture for the Chamber. The fact that everything has gone so smoothly is almost unreal!

Together with the designers we have constantly had to balance on the edge of what is technically possible and collect expertise from all corners of the globe. At the same time we have worked in a very small time frame where nothing was allowed to go wrong. Today, however, we feel that we have created something beautiful and groundbreaking in tandem with the designers. We hope this can inject new interest into Danish design from an international perspective. What a shame Finn Juhl himself couldn’t experience this” . Director Hans Henrik Sørensen, Onecollection

“People ask us what is especially Danish about this chair. Apart from the light Nordic colour and our love of using wood, we also think it has to do with our approach: We put a lot of effort into assembling all possible influences of the assignment before giving it shape. By doing so, we had a good chance of making something useful and relevant. Besides that, there is always a reason for what we do, and that often helps us in our discussions with the various teams we work with. For instance, we designed the secretaries’ chairs with armrests. At first the UN was hesitant to allocate chairs with armrests to employees with the status of secretary, but because we presented them with our intensions, we came to an agreement”. Designers Kasper Salto & Thomas Sigsgaard

”Just like Finn Juhl, Kasper Salto and Thomas Sigsgaard have had the talent to strike an exceptional balance between detail and totality. Their eye for detail is for instance reflected in their choice of material. The swivel base of the chair relates to one of Finn Juhl’s lamps in the Chamber, and the leather hide upholstery is a reflection on the Chamber’s humanistic dimension. The chair is incredibly comfortable and pleasant to touch – Finn Juhl has found very capable heirs in Salto & Sigsgaard…” Head of Division, Danish Agency for Culture, Architect MAA Mogens A. Morgen