Kai Kristiansen. An Industrious Designer

Kai Kristiansen (*1929) began his professional career as an independent designer in 1954, having established his offi ce in Brædstrup (Jutland). Three years previously he had graduated from his studies as a cabinetmaker and a one-year stint studying design with Kaare Klint in Copenhagen. By then, Danish design, which offered aesthetic, light and well-made furniture for all those who wanted to express an interest in the modern world, had already garnered a great reputation, which had spread as far as the United States.

In the late 1950s Kristiansen designed the successful Model 42 armchair, which was suitable for using at both a dining table and a desk, for Schou Andersen Møbelfabrik. Over time he created designs for numerous distinguished manufacturers, such as Feldballes Møbelfabrik, Magnus Olesen, Fritz Hansen, Aksel Kjersgaard and Vildbjerg Møbelfabrik. The Pige model, made for IKEA by Schou Andersen, was one of the Swedish furniture store’s top-selling chairs of the 1950s.

Today at over ninety years old, Kai Kristiansen is still in business, and interest in and appreciation of his designs remains undiminished to this day. When searching his name online, thousands of images and links appear that illustrate not only his early designs but also new editions of his classics from the Miyazaki Chair Factory in Japan; galleries and auction houses offer mid-century originals, and on social media platforms, such as Instagram, interior designers showcase their projects featuring Kristiansen furniture specially procured for  them.

This monograph offers a comprehensive insight into Kai Kristiansen’s oeuvre through numerous historical photos, catalogue illustrations and drawings as well as current images, including an Instagram gallery, and reveals how fundamental principles of economy, ecology and common sense have infl uenced the manufacturing processes of the furniture industry.

Editor of the book and design writer Sisse Bro has worked closely with the designer and introduces his work here while locating it within Danish design history, while Kristiansen himself openly shares his experiences, ideas and visions in a retrospective of his work and life.