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Hvidt & Mølgaard

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Website: Hvidt & Mølgaard Furniture (hvidtmolgaard.com)

BIOGRAPHY

Hvidt & Mølgaard (est. 1944)

Design in flat packages. It is the foundation of Ikea's success. In the mid-1950s, Ikea decided to unscrew the legs of the tables so that they took up less space when transporting them, and it was the best initiative they have ever taken, they say.

As early as 1944, when it became clear that 2. As World War II approached some kind of end, preparations began for reconstruction. A dozen Danish furniture factories joined forces in the "Association for Furniture Exports", which aimed to make furniture for emergency housing and small apartments in the war-torn countries.

The manufacturers approached two young furniture architects, Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, and asked them to submit a bid. They came with Portex. A series of cellulose-lacquered beechwood furniture consisting of storage furniture, beds, hanging racks, tables and chairs that were so simple and spartan in expression that they were reminiscent of the Shaker style and which – which was absolutely central – could be disassembled, sent in flat packages and reassembled without the use of skilled labor. However, the Portex chair, with or without armrests, did not want to risk being subjected to the knock-down principle (it was feared that stability would suffer). Instead, they were made stackable and the stacking system patented.

Adversity hit the project. The majority were sold to the American forces in West Germany, because the needy would probably rather have furniture similar to what they had before the war. In return, Portex became the basis for Hvidt and Mølgaard's long-standing collaboration.

The two men got a joint design studio in 1944 and over the next 15 years designed no less than 256 different pieces of furniture plus a grand piano. They collaborated with the most skilled cabinetmakers of the golden period, such as A.J. Iversen and L. Pontoppidan, but primarily their interest was turned to furniture manufacturing on a larger scale. For Søborg Møbelfabrik A/S, Fritz Hansens eftf. A/S, France & Søn and others

In the early 1950s, they really broke through to the international furniture public with a chair they had been working on since 1946.

The prehistory includes the fact that Fritz Hansen had experimented with mould bending of thin sheets of glued intersecting veneer since the 1930s, and that the company made Peter Hvidt and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen so interested in the experiments that they presented an interesting idea project for laminated constructions at a furniture competition organised by the Museum of Modern Art in 1946. The collaboration continued successfully, and in 1950 Hvidt and Mølgaard, together with Fritz Hansen, launched the Ax chair, and it attracted the world's attention. As early as January 1951, 200 Ax chairs a week could be shipped to the United States.

The upturned armrests, which naturally emerge due to wear of the side wings and the interposed core of solid mahogany – a detail the architects took from the laminated tennis rackets of the time – made the chair elegant. In addition, there was the innovation in the form of two double-curved shells, the seat and the back, veneered with mahogany. Here was the result of intensive development work, and the chair was also honored with the Diplôme d'Honneur at the Triennale in Milan in 1951.

A little quirky twist on the story: With these experiences behind him, Fritz Hansen's eftf initiated. A/S the following year a collaboration with Arne Jacobsen on the stacking chair with the production number 3100, later known as the Ant.

In 1944 they founded the company Hvidt & Mølgaard, which they ran together until 1975. In 1950, the couple designed the AX chair, which became an icon of Danish design from the middle of the century. AX was inspired by the work of the American design duo Charles and Ray Eames and was the first Danish chair to be designed with both a seat and back made of curved laminated wood. The chair used a laminated technique for production carried out by Fritz Hansen. The design of the chair allowed mass production and easy packaging, which opened a successful market for Danish furniture that could be exported around the world. The AX chair was eventually accompanied by the AX table, which was exhibited in 1951 as part of the "Good Design" show sponsored by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Like many mid-century designers, they also incorporated leather into their designs, as well as teak and sugar cane, creating modular units such as bookcases and living rooms. Other designs from the couple include the FD134 chair, FD145 chair, Gateleg dining table, Minerva sofa and model 523- or pinwheel - side table (all 1950s for France and Son).

Hvidt & Mølgaard later focused on architectural projects spanning office buildings and factories such as the De Danske Sukkerfabrikker building in Copenhagen (1958) and collective housing projects in Søllerød, Hillerød and Birkerød (1962–1970). They were known for their lightweight, simple and clear design that was executed with precision. In 1970, Hans Kristensen (b. 1933) joined the company and helped the couple design the Little Belt Bridge (1965-1970) and the Vejle Fjord Bridge (1975-1980).

Both Hvidt and Mølgaard-Nielsen retired in 1975 and designed over 256 pieces of furniture together during their careers. Hvidt died in 1986 and Mølgaard-Nielsen in 1993. White received the Diplôme d'Honneur at the Milan Triennale in 1951 and 1954. Mølgaard-Nielsen was jointly awarded an iF Product Design Award for the Safari lamp to Nordisk Solar Compagni. Their work can be found at New York's MoMA, the National Gallery in Melbourne and the Danish Museum of Art &Design in Copenhagen.