Ole Wanscher

Ole Wanscher (1903-1985), an architect and professor of architecture and furniture, shaped the future of Danish furniture both as an active designer and as a master teacher. A key player in Denmark's midcentury modern movement, his designs are now modern classics; they are sophisticated and functional with exquisite attention to detail.

Ole Wanscher treated furniture design like architecture, valuing construction and form as he would in a building. Wanscher studied under, and worked for, master designer Kaare Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, later taking over Klint's professorship himself. 

In 2003, New York Times art critic Roberta Smith wrote: "He combined fully and equally the talents of a master craftsman, designer, and sculptor with those of a historian. In particular, his sensitivity to the luster and living delicacy of wood enabled him to bring organic life and a rich sense of the past to the indelibly modern spareness of the International Style."

Wanscher passed away in 1985. Many of his designs remain in production with Carl Hansen & Søn.