Bodil Kjær
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Bodil Kjær (born 11 March 1932 in Hatting near
Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of the Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 64,418 (1 January 2025) and the municipality's population is 97,921 (), making it the List of cities and ...
) is a Danish architect, furniture designer, professor and researcher, who has specialized in interior design and city planning. Today she is recognized above all for the flexible series of office furniture she designed in the 1960s.


Early life

The daughter of a Jutland farmer, Kjær studied in
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
at the School for Interior Architecture (1964) and then in London at the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
and at the
Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, academic conference, symposia and publications. Histo ...
(1965–69). Bodil Kjær was born into a family, where her parents in her terms were “well-read pillar of the community”. Within such a family, she started developing an understanding of what makes a cohesive society along with aesthetics, feeling for quality and respect for nature.Kjær, B. n.d. CV. (B Kjær’s archive, in Danish National Archives). As a child, Kjær was very active and engaged with sports. After passing her high school exams at a former Latin School, she went off to England for language studies. This gave her the chance to meet students from different countries and learn about different cultures. While in England, in 1950, discovering the tradition of well-thought-out furniture and accessories eventually led her to study interior architecture. Following this, in 1951, she started studying at the State School of Interior Architecture in Copenhagen. Having the opportunity to work with teachers like
Finn Juhl Finn Juhl (30 January 1912 – 17 May 1989) was a Denmark, Danish architect, interior design, interior and industrial designer, most known for his furniture design. He was one of the leading figures in the creation of Danish design in the 1940s an ...
and Jørgen Ditzel was what she called a “good fortune” and she could learn a lot about the creation of spaces and the design of interior elements.


Early Career

Before eventually opening her own practice, Kjær spent the years of her early adulthood abroad. She studied in London at both the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
and the
Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, academic conference, symposia and publications. Histo ...
(1965-69). Additionally, she worked as a senior architect at the Arup building consultancy in London (1967–69). She has had studios of her own in Copenhagen, Denmark (1960–65) and in London, England (1969–79).Riesto, S. & Steiner, H., (2024) “Negotiating Feminist Positions in the 1980 Exhibition På Vej: Women Architects in Denmark  Envision a More Equitable Future ”, ''Architectural Histories'' 12(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ah.10701 Kjær lived in Italy for some time as well, where she “combined her practice in Europe with teaching appointments at universities in the United States." Said appointments include her time serving as a visiting professor at both
Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...
(1967-1968) and the
University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is the second oldest university in the University of Texas System and was founded in 1895. It was in the Texas A& ...
(1976-1977), teaching at the
Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...
in New York City (1970), and becoming a professor within the Department of Housing and Design at the
University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
(1982-89). Ultimately, in 1980 Kjær returned to Denmark.


Interior design

Inspired by the
Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
masters
Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...
and
Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...
, she has always given her work an international appeal.Edith Rasmussen, "Når fortiden banker på"
''Livsstil.guide.dk'', 24 March 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
Her interior design work has included the development of furniture, lighting, and glass for a wide range of buildings from housing in the African tropics to factories, offices and universities. She has since conducted research into the future of cities and has worked as a planning and design consultant.
''modern design fanatic'', 31 March 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.


Furniture

Kjær's furniture designs date mainly from 1959 to 1964. Her first assignment was an upholstered series for Paul Rudolph, dean of the
Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSoA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University. The School awards the degrees of Master of Architecture I (M.Arch I), Master of Architecture II (M.Arch II), Master of Environmental Desi ...
, who made the order for his
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tower in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts. She also provided designs for
Josep Lluís Sert Josep Lluís Sert i López (; 1 July 190215 March 1983) was a Catalan architect and city planner established in the USA after 1939. Biography Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Sert showed keen interest in the works of his uncle, the painte ...
, dean of the
Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...
, for a Harvard University building. Marcel Breuer installed 28 of her upholstered sofas in a building he had designed in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
. Examples of her furniture can still be seen today at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
and
Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...
. In notes she prepared in 1995 for an exhibition in Berlin, Kjær commented: "I often ran into problems of finding furniture that would express the same form-ideas as those we employed in the buildings we designed and which would, at the same time, express the ideas of contemporary management. The office furniture I found on the market in 1959, I found to be clumsy and confining, while neither the new architecture nor the new management thinking was the least bit clumsy or confining." Her working table (1959) was designed as part of a flexible working environment. The prototype, in ashwood with a matte, chrome-plated base, was made for Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A model in walnut was made for
Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...
. In addition to the table with its four inset drawers, Kjær designed a number of storage items with adjustable shelves and drawers which could be placed under the table or beside a wall.Gitte Just, "Bordet til topledere og spioner"
''Fri'', 12 January 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
The table has been used widely in films ('' From Russia with Love'') and on television (BBC election broadcasts) as well as by celebrities including
Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
(at
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), the actor
Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...
, and the pianist
Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...
. In the 1960s, the table and storage elements were manufactured by E. Pedersen & Søn in
Rødovre Rødovre () is a town in eastern Denmark, seat of the Rødovre Municipality, in the Capital Region of Denmark, Region Hovedstaden. The town's population 1 January 2019 was 39,907, and in addition 145 persons had no fixed address, which made up a ...
, Denmark as well as in Boston. But production terminated in 1974 when one manufacturer went bankrupt and another suffered fire damage. Some of her office units and upholstered designs were reissued between 2007 and 2009 by Hothouse Design in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
but production has now ceased. Today her furniture is auctioned at increasingly high prices. In 2008, one of her working tables was sold for DKK 131,250 or some $24,000. The Rights to Bodil Kjær's designs are managed by FORM portfolios.


Exhibitions


På Vej

Bodil Kjær, together with Kirsten Birch (today known as Birk Hansen), was the first curator of På Vej (On the Way) exhibition. The main idea of bringing På Vej into life was to show works of Danish women who were planners, architects and artists to a broader audience.DAL/AA 1980a = Pressemeddelelse ress release 14 July. (B Kjær’s archive, Rigsarkivet)Riesto, S and Steiner, H. 2024. Negotiating Feminist Positions in the 1980 Exhibition På Vej: Women Architects in Denmark Envision a More Equitable Future. Architectural Histories, 12(1): pp. 1–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16995/ah.10701 The significance of På Vej lies beneath the time’s politized agenda of gender equality, social and ecological justice. Within that context, the exhibition negotiated feminist concerns and brought up the ongoing tensions and challenges both in the architectural and curatorial practices. På Vej still holds its relevance in today’s agenda as it offers a pre-context to contemporary architectural work taking up feminist position. Not just the exhibition itself but the production of it is also worth looking into in terms of the challenges of the time. The curatorial group published an open call in architectural magazines to receive projects. However, it was evidently proved that it was not as easy as expected to get other women architects to join the exhibition with their works. Although there is no evidence to provide reasons for that, Kjær got herself concerned if it was because of the way they presented the exhibition and its aim. Another challenge was due to the nature of the group and the funding received from
Danish Arts Foundation The Danish Arts Foundation ( Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council ...
, the
Aarhus School of Architecture The Aarhus School of Architecture (Arkitektskolen Aarhus) was founded in 1965 in Aarhus, Denmark. Along with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen, it is responsible for the education of architects in Denma ...
, the foundation Salling, Copenhagen Culture Fund was only enough to cover the production. Therefore, they had a loosely organized group of unpaid volunteer workers struggling with the workload. Nevertheless, the exhibition was successfully displayed at
Copenhagen City Hall Copenhagen City Hall () is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen. Architecture The current building ...
during the summer of 1980, followed by another display in
Aarhus City Hall Aarhus City Hall () is the city hall of Aarhus, Denmark. The decision to build a new city hall was taken during a city hall meeting in 1937. The new building was inaugurated 2 June 1941, designed by architects Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller. On ...
and accompanied with a book ''Kvinder ytrer sig om omgivelserne'' in Danish, and ''Women’s Expressions on the Environment: A Commentary to the Exhibition PÅ VEJ That Shows the Work of Women Architects, Planners and Artists'' in English. Regarding the overall exhibition, an architectural periodical ''Arkitekten'' noted that ''På Vej'' challenged the common narrative that women were often overshadowed by their male counterparts. Instead, it highlighted that women architects and artists were equally capable of creative imagination and socio-political engagement.Anmeldelser og Noter: Kvinder Udstiller eviews and notes: Women exhibiting Arkitekten, 82(15): 364–365.


See also

*
Danish modern Danish modern also known as Scandinavian modern is a style of minimalist furniture and housewares from Denmark associated with the Danish design movement. In the 1920s, Kaare Klint embraced the principles of Bauhaus modernism in furniture de ...
*
Danish design Danish design is a style of functionalistic design and architecture that was developed in mid-20th century. Influenced by the German Bauhaus school, many Danish designers used the new industrial technologies, combined with ideas of simplicity ...


References


Literature

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kjaer, Bodil Danish furniture designers Danish architects Danish interior designers Danish women designers People from Horsens Municipality 1932 births Danish modern University of Maryland, College Park faculty Living people Danish women architects