Bodil Kjær facts for kids

Bodil Kjær (born on March 11, 1932, in Hatting, Denmark) is a famous Danish architect, furniture designer, and professor. She is known for her work in interior design and city planning. Today, many people recognize her for the clever and flexible office furniture she created in the 1960s.

Bodil Kjær's Early Life and Education

Bodil Kjær grew up as the daughter of a farmer in Jutland, Denmark. She loved design and went to school in Copenhagen at the School for Interior Architecture, graduating in 1964. After that, she continued her studies in London, attending the Royal College of Art and the Architectural Association School of Architecture from 1965 to 1969.

What Kind of Work Did Bodil Kjær Do?

Bodil Kjær had a very interesting career. She worked as a senior architect at a big building company called Arup in London from 1967 to 1969. She also taught as a professor at the University of Maryland in the United States from 1982 to 1989.

Bodil Kjær's Design Studios

Bodil Kjær also had her own design studios. She had one in Copenhagen from 1960 to 1965 and another in London from 1969 to 1979. She was inspired by famous designers like Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer, who were part of the Modernist movement. This inspiration helped her create designs that were popular all over the world.

Her Work in Interior Design

Bodil Kjær's interior design work was very diverse. She created furniture, lighting, and glass items for many different types of buildings. This included homes in hot, tropical places in Africa, as well as factories, offices, and universities. Later in her career, she also researched how cities might look in the future and worked as a consultant to help plan and design urban spaces.

Bodil Kjær's Famous Furniture Designs

Most of Bodil Kjær's well-known furniture designs were made between 1959 and 1964. She focused on creating furniture that was practical and fit well into modern buildings and workplaces.

Designing for Universities and Offices

One of her first big projects was designing a series of comfortable, upholstered furniture for Paul Rudolph. He was the dean (a leader) at the Yale School of Architecture and ordered the furniture for a building in Boston, Massachusetts. She also designed pieces for Josep Lluís Sert, who was the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Another famous architect, Marcel Breuer, even put 28 of her upholstered sofas in a building he designed in New York! You can still see examples of her furniture today at places like Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University.

In 1995, Bodil Kjær explained why she started designing office furniture. She said it was hard to find furniture that matched the modern style of the buildings she was working on. She felt that the office furniture available in 1959 was "clumsy and confining," while the new buildings and ways of working were not clumsy at all.

The Iconic Working Table

One of her most famous pieces is her working table, designed in 1959. She created it to be part of a flexible workspace. The first version, made of ash wood with a shiny metal base, was created for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Another version, made of walnut wood, was designed for Wellesley College. Along with the table, which had four hidden drawers, Bodil Kjær also designed storage units with shelves and drawers that could be placed under the table or against a wall.

Where Has the Working Table Appeared?

This table has become quite famous! It has appeared in movies like From Russia with Love and on television, including BBC election broadcasts. Even famous people have used it, such as Prince Philip (at Sandringham), the actor Michael Caine, and the pianist Oscar Peterson.

Production and Value of Her Furniture

In the 1960s, her tables and storage units were made by companies in Denmark and Boston. However, production stopped in 1974 because one manufacturer went out of business and another had a fire. Some of her office and upholstered designs were made again between 2007 and 2009 by a company in Shanghai, but that production has also stopped.

Today, Bodil Kjær's furniture is very valuable and is often sold at auctions for high prices. For example, in 2008, one of her working tables sold for about $24,000! The rights to her designs are now managed by a company called FORM portfolios.

See also

• Danish modern
• Danish design