After the Danish cabinetmaker and designer Grete Jalk embarked on a long-term collaboration with the manufacturer Poul Jeppesen in 1956, she was intent on exploring the potential of laminated wood. The first of her experimental models were the lounge chair no. 9-1 and a set of nesting tables, no. 5-2. Rather than transposing a traditional model based on solid wood construction onto a different material, Jalk abandoned the conventional distinction between legs and supporting elements, reducing the chair to a pair of shells that are riveted together where they overlap at the floor. The tight curves that stiffen the shells and resolve the transitions between surfaces are based on a single radius of 15 millimeters, which was intended to reduce the cost of the tooling and simplify production. These voluptuous folds are the inevitable result of opposing vectors that reconcile comfort with stability. At the junctions between the shells, Jalk cut away excess material to emphasize their independent forms. The result is a pure structure that expresses both the character of the material and Jalk’s humanistic use of technology. In 1963, Poul Jeppesen manufactured an initial run of three hundred chairs. However, because his investment in metal moulds and associated equipment had been enormous, the retail price was very high, making the chairs difficult to sell; Jeppesen decided against further production. In 2008, Lange Production acquired the rights and resumed production using new manufacturing techniques.
Text: Michael A. Sheridan
