Niels Joergen Haugesen

By Jessica Whittaker

Versatility is the word that perhaps best describes this architect from Denmark who told the world how important it was for furniture to be operative. Niels Joergen Haugesen did not believe in extremely beautiful artwork unless it matched its beauty in effectiveness and efficiency.

In 1956 when Niels Joergen Haugesen was twenty years old, he was trained as a cabinet maker. It goes without saying that design was incorporated into his brain at a very young age for Haugesen showed all signs of vigor, capability and originality. Niels Joergen Haugesen spent five worthwhile years of his life at Arne Jacobsen in Copenhagen and learning all about furniture design. Today Jacobsen is one of his idols and motivations.

Niels Joergen Haugesen designed the Haugesen Table for which he won the ID Prize in 1986 and he won that award again the next year for his much liked X Line chair. The X Line chair is very interesting to look at with its legs forming the shape of X. It looks just like its diagrammatic representation and thus it exudes the simplicity of design-the Niels Haugesen style.

Niels Joergen Haugesen collections are tremendously appealing. For instance his collection of seats called Distance gets its name from its unique backrest. There is a thin split between the two halves of the backrest joined by thin but durable poles. This makes the seat look like the upper part of the support is just suspended in thin air. This nature of his design proves that there need not be too many complications for furniture to be innovative and chic. Distance sofas are available as two and four seaters and the designs are available in plain fabric; and also a vibrant, eccentric use of multicolored stripes is seen in other pieces.

Another geometrical wonder from Haugesen is the Nimbus Table System. This distinctive design combines five separate table tops and arranges them to form one piece of a single table top. Using this style, a combination or permutation of endless table tops can be used to form bigger tables. Haugesen has a series of five such Nimbus Tables each experimented with different types and colors of wood. This gives the table top a unique look because while we can easily tell the diverse nature and separateness of each top, the stunning blending of these tops can be admired at the same time.

The Xylofon collection is a nice crisscross of metal and wood. While the seats are made of teak wood which is known for its stability and solidity, the legs are connected to the support system and the seat by steel. This prevents the Xylofon Bench and the Xylofon chair from being wobbly.

In 1996, the designer won the Danish Furniture Award which was quite expected after his deserving wins of the Danish Forest Associations Furniture Award and Danish Furniture Industries Design Prize. In 1998, the Danish State Art Fund took notice of this mans creative genius and gave him the lifelong Artists Grant. In the USA, he is represented in the much renowned Museum of Modern Art in New York.

When it comes to grandeur minus the shall we say imbroglio in furniture, Niels Joergen Haugesen definitely warrants a worthy mention.

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