House of Copenhagen

Design by : Rud Thygesen & Johnny Sørensen

EB 82

EB City Bureau

The King’s Furniture series
In 1969 the Copenhagen Cabinetmaker’s Guild announced a competition for “Furniture for your salon” to be presented at the Guild’s Autumn exhibition. Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen won the first price. The wining entry was given good review, justifiably so, but they were nothing compared to the praise showered on the furniture when it was presented to King Frederik the ninth, on the occasion of his 70th birthday in March 1969. It was quickly - and naturally - christened the "King's Furniture”. The series is today manufactured by Frederica Furniture, and has been supplemented with a number of new models. The intensity of detail and exquisite materials make the King’s Furniture series stand out as one of the monuments in Danish design history.
Design by : Rud Thygesen & Johnny Sørensen

Model 7701/02/7509/20
In 1983, Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen added a sofa and an armchair to the King’s Furniture series. They both radiate a well-defined and refined minimalism.

Embassy
In 1989, Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen added the Embassy conference tables and a conference chair to the King’s Furniture series. The eye-catching Y-shaped leg was inspired by load-bearing constructions in old warehouses. This exclusive furniture series is a firm favorite in embassies and ministries all over the world. The light conference chair 7703 makes a beautiful partner to the Embassy addition tables and the rest of the King’s Furniture series.


MO4554		Partout		Parade		8000 Series


Rud Thygesen & Johnny Sørensen Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen graduated from the School of Arts, Crafts, and Design in 1966, members of the last generation of furniture designers to experience the golden age of Danish furniture


Briefing Twin		Dart Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen opened their design office in 1966 and if we look at their output, we see an interesting sequence with tradition and continuity alternating with innovation and distinct changes in style. Swinger During their first years together, their work had the nature of a reaction against norms and traditions - a youthful rebellion in which everything they had learned had to be tested, and elitism and the concept of furniture as decorative art challenged. At one moment, they were designing radical modular furniture for young people - at another, classical, skillfully crafted cabinetry furniture "for your salon." But they also found time for interesting experiments with light tubular furniture and for a flirtation with the discrete charm of the bourgeoisie in the form of a great big "sprawl couch" and canvas covered sofa modules.


Partout table and chair		Parade In a way it is understandable that Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen resist being encumbered with traditions and models since their point of departure is industrial design and rational production rather than furniture design as an art or cabinetmaking.


They consider a piece of furniture to be a carefully designed industrial product; form and function, an honest use of materials, and the potentials of technology are equally valid parameters in the design process.		Briefing


		Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sørensen have fought their way to a unique and well deserved position in Danish furniture design. But they are naturally only human, and not everything they have tried has been equally successful. But when the few "flops" have been weeded out, their output is convincing, lucid, distinguished by excellent design and high quality.