„I suffocate on aesthetics.“ as Arne Jacobsen once – only half jokingly – said. Aesthetes can be tiring: his coffee cups always had to be in strict order in the cupboard, and even when selecting and arranging pieces of cake he is said to have been fastidious about appearance. But on the other hand there’s genius: an extremely passionate precision and perseverance led Jacobsen to create not only outstanding modern architecture, but also some icons of the 20th century.

When he designed a building, he usually also created the whole interior, right up to the curtain rail. The ’Swan‘ series of chairs and sofas was developed in 1958 for the suites, lobby and panoramic restaurant of the SAS Royal Copenhagen Hotel. A skyscraper, dubbed the ugliest building in the city by Copenhageners at that time – now regarded as an indispensable contribution to international modernity worldwide, photographed millions of times by tourists and architecture fans.

Although from today’s perspective the chair’s form seems classic and dignified, these early examples of organic modernism were shockingly new at the time. The shell of a ’swan‘ embraces the seated person and provides arm and back support at the same time. The sculptural, curvaceous shape was technologically and visually very innovative – and incredibly comfortable, of course.