The two designers who really put Denmark on the world map were Hans J.Wegner (born 1914) and Finn Juhl (1912-1989). These two men came from radically different backgrounds. Hans J.Wegner was the country craftsman who had received his training as furniture designer at Kunsthaandvaerkerskolen (The Danish School of Arts &Crafts). Jinn Juhl was the cosmopolitan academic from Copenhagen, who had been educated as an architect at the Kunstakademiet (The Royal Danish Academy of Jine Arts). Both men had an amazing feel for design and a deep-seated desire to create beautiful, functional furniture. As a result, they created a long series of furniture classics over a period lasting 40 years; classics which even today stand out as exceptional. Their production of quality furniture is so extensive-Hans J.Wegner alone is responsible for more than 500 models-that it is impossible to highlight the work of one or the other. Particular examples of Hans J.Wegner’s unique design work are Kinastolen (“The Chinese Chair”) from 1945, The Chair from 1949, and Cirkelstolen (“The Circle Chair”) from 1986. Among Finn Juhl’s furniture are such highlights as his armchair made for the Guild of Cabinetmakers’ autumn exhibition in 1944 and Hoevdingstolen (The Chieftain Chair) from 1949. It was chairs like these that won Denmark its reputation as the world’s leading design nation. 

Around 1970, Denmark began to experience stiff competition from Italy at the numerous furniture fairs around the world, and in particular, at the furniture fairs around the world, and in particular, at the furniture fairs in Cologne and Chicago. The Italian designers and furniture manufacturers moved in new directions and experimented with all kinds of materials and expression, which caused Danish furniture to appear behind the times. It was really only the Danish designer, Verner Panton, who lived in Switzerland, who understood how to use the new man-made materials and create new designs.This was a critical period in Danish furniture design and for the Danish furniture industry which found it difficult to maintain its position as marker leader. This situation was not only caused by the challenge posed by the Italian designers. It was also the result of too much success.

The good international reputation of Danish furniture design had built by a handful of furniture manufacturers who were interested in good design and the use of talented designers. In the wake of their success however, were a large number of less serious furniture manufacturers. Who swamped the market with unoriginal furniture, usually of poor quality, which was hastily marketed under the label of Danish Design. 

Fortunately, there were new, talented designers on the way up: people like the Danish designers, Bernt, Rud Thygesen&Johnny Soerensen, Johannes Foersom&Peter Hiort-Lorenzen, Gunver&Niels Joergen Haugesen, Joergen Gammelgaard, as well as Nanna Ditzel and Poul Kjaerholm. These designers helped to lift the heavy legacy left to them by the “Golden Age” of Danish design in the 1950’s and 60’s, and fortunately, there were still furniture manufacturers willing to bank on quality design. 

The greatest problem for Danish furniture design of the period was that the manufacture of furniture was becoming more and more industrialised. The meant that designers had to come up with far more rational designs than before. The fact that training at the architect and design colleges was to a high degree based on artistry and craftsmanship caused a good deal of friction between designers and manufacturers. Many designers felt that the manufacturers only had an eye for profit margins and mass production. For their part, the manufacturers felt that the designers only thought about designing expensive furniture and of making a name for themselves. This was not a good foundation for developing Danish furniture design and both parties were lacking a viable model with which to move on. It was a small, elegant chair and accompanying table series in laminated beechwood which marked the start of the second “Golden Age” of Danish furniture design. The new furniture was presented at the annual Scandinavian Furniture Fair at The Bella Centre in 1974 and was designed by the young architects Rud Thygesen & Johnny soerensen for the furniture manufacturer Magnus Olesen A/S. The chair and the table series were specifically designed as industrial products in a functional design and were of a very high quality. To top it all, they were relatively cheap as well. The fact that this could be done was partly because the designers had rediscovered the industrial and design qualities of the laminating technique, and partly because they had gambled on the contract market rather on the market for household furniture. The laminating technique was well known: the Finnish designer, Alvar Alto and the Swedish designer, Bruno Mathsson had already created a long line of beautiful laminated furniture in the 1930’s and 40’s –and in Denmark, people like Arne Jacobsen had developed series of laminated furniture. What made Rud Thygesen & Johnny Soerensen’s approach so unique was the fact that they regarded their furniture as industrial products instead of one-of-a-kind, craftsman-made goods. Their furniture was highly adapted to rational mass production, almost kike industrial design. More inportant still was the fact that an extremely viable model for collaboration between designers and manufacturers had been found. This model created a school of thought and convinced the furniture industry that good design could actually pay! 北欧家具设计的审美特征英文文献和中文翻译(4):http://www.751com.cn/fanyi/lunwen_51826.html