Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition ( Danish: ''Københavns Snedkerlaugs Møbeludstilling'') was an annual furniture exhibition and competition held from 1927 to 1966 that served as an well-known institution of

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 ...

and a vehicle for the emergence of the

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 ...

art movement. Many recognizable icons of Danish Modern were first unveiled as prototypes at the exhibition, including Hans Wegner's Round Chair,

Aksel Bender Madsen Aksel Bender Madsen (16 August 1916 – 23 May 2000) was a Danish furniture designer who worked closely together with Ejner Larsen (1917-1987) producing a wide variety of items during the Danish modern period. Biography Born in Ringe on the D ...

and Ejnar Larsen's Metropolitan chair, Børge Mogensen's Spokeback Chair, and Finn Juhl’s Chieftain Chair.

History

The Exhibition was originally created out of fear that the Danish cabinetmaking craft industry would not be able to compete with more affordable furniture imports (primarily from Germany). After the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers Guild failed to lobby the Danish government to limit furniture imports, the organization established the exhibition to in order to increase awareness of the traditional craft and dissuade consumer from purchasing the cheaper imports. The event sought to foster greater collaboration and experimentation between master cabinetmakers and architects. In some cases, these pairs established long-term working relationships, including Hans J. Wegner and Johannes Hansen,

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 Niels Vodder,

Ole Wanscher Ole Wanscher (16 September 1903 – 27 December 1985) was a Danish furniture designer. He was one of the leading figures in the Scandinavian Design movement (a part of Mid-Century Modernism), at a time when Scandinavian Design achieved worldwid ...

and A.J. Iversen, Jacob Kjær and

Peder Moos Peder Moos (27 January 1906, in Sønderborg – 1 April 1991, in Tønder) was a Danish furniture designer and cabinetmaker who crafted nearly all his pieces himself. The son of a farmer, he attended Askov Højskole, a folk High School, before trai ...

, and

Kaare Klint Kaare Klint (15 December 1888 – 28 March 1954) was a Danish architect and furniture designer, known as the father of modern Danish furniture design. His style was epitomized by clean, pure lines, use of the best materials of his time and ...

and Rud Rasmussen. In 1933, a design competition was added to the event format. When American journalists attended the event the first time in 1949, their report of the event was the first coverage

in the American media and helped foster international hype for the design trend in the 1950s. The Cabinetmakers' Guild held its final exhibition in 1966 after a decline in Danish furniture and few cabinetmakers remained in Copenhagen to sustain it.

Revival

In 1981, the Snedkernes Efterårsudstilling was founded to revive the tradition of the defunct Cabinetmakers' Guild Exhibition: organizing an annual furniture exhibition for designers and manufacturers in Denmark.

References

External links

Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild
website
Archival footage of the 1959 event
on Dansk Kulturarv
Exhibition Booklets
from the Royal Library of Denmark's Digital collections {{Danish modern __NOTOC__ Danish modern Design events Danish furniture History of furniture 20th century in Denmark Annual events in Denmark Recurring events established in 1927 Recurring events disestablished in 1966

History

Revival

See also

Further reading

References

External links