The Balloon Chair exhibits an interesting composition of materials. Though it is vintage, it has a strikingly modern appeal, as the black coated steel frame elegantly underpins a surprisingly comfortable tilted suede cone, accented by the soaring armrests in darkened teak.
Hans Olsen (1919-1992) began his career as a cabinetmaker, but at the age of 30, he decided to attend the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art, where he studied under ”the father of modern Danish furniture”, Kaare Klint. Unlike Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, and other contemporaries, who all embraced the “Klint School” of modernism, Olsen was particularly eager to experiment with both form and material in order to approach maximum comfort.
Though Olsen is lesser known than more prolific figures of his time, his consistent output of distinctive designs such as the Balloon Chair, the abstract Fried Egg Chair (1956) and the futuristic Bikini Chair (1968) have understandably attracted renewed interest in recent years.
The Hans Olsen Balloon Chair is available in dimensions:
H:68cm D:62cm W:78cm.
