Arne Emil Jacobsen, Hon. FAIA, was a Danish builder and designer born on February 11, 1902, and died on March 24, 1971. He is known for his work in the Functionalist style of architecture and for his simple but effective chair designs, which were popular worldwide.

Arne Jacobsen Background

Arne Jacobsen was born in Copenhagen on February 11, 1902, to Jewish parents from the upper middle class. [1] His father, Johan, sold safety pins and snapped fasteners at a business level. His mother, Pauline, worked as a bank teller and liked to draw flowers in her spare time. [2] At first, he wanted to be a painter, but his mother talked him out. She told him that architecture was a safer choice. After working as an apprentice mason, Jacobsen was accepted into the Architecture School at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. From 1924 to 1927, he studied under famous architects and designers Kay Fisker and Kaj Gottlob. [3] While still in school, Jacobsen went to the Paris Art Deco fair, Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, in 1925, where he won a silver medal for chair design. During that trip, the innovative style of Le Corbusier's L'Esprit Nouveau building stood out to him. Jacobsen also went to Germany before he left the Academy. There, he learned the rationalist design of Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. Their work inspired his early compositions, like the art gallery he made for his senior project that won him a gold medal. [4] After he finished architecture school, his first job was at the office of city planner Poul Holse. [5] He won a competition for designing the "House of the Future" with Flemming Lassen in 1929. The "House of the Future" was built to scale at a show afterward in Copenhagen'sForum. .It had a flat roof and a spiral shape. It was made of glass and concrete and had a private garage, a boathouse, and a place for a helicopter landing. Some windows rolled down like car windows, a mail conveyor tube, and a kitchen with ready-made food.[7] A Dodge Cabriolet Coupé was in the shed, a Chris Craft in the boathouse, and an Autogyro on top of the house.[8] Jacobsen was known right away as a very modern architect.