Bodil Kjær

Bodil Kjær is born in 1932 in the small village of Hatting, near Horsens, in Denmark. Today she is best known for her furniture designs of the 1960s, but during her career she also worked as an architect, professor and urban planner on projects in Europe, the USA and Africa.

Kjær studied at the School for Interior Architecture in Copenhagen in 1964 and then chose to move to London to continue her studies at the Royal College of Art and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. During the 1960s and 1970s, Bodil Kjær had her own design studios in both Copenhagen and London.

Bodil Kjær draws great inspiration from modernist masters such as Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. Unlike many of her compatriots, she always strives to put an international stamp on her furniture. Her first commission as a furniture designer comes from Paul Rudolph, director of the Yale School of Architecture, who orders furniture for a building he has designed in Boston. Kjær also designs furniture for Josep Lluís Sert, head of the rival Harvard University, and for Marcel Breuer, who orders 28 sofas for one of his buildings in New York. Bodil Kjær's furniture can still be seen today at several universities such as Harvard, Boston University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It was for MIT that Bodil Kjær created one of her most famous pieces of furniture in 1959. When first presented as a desk, it was unique in its kind, with a clean and simple design that gives the impression that the tabletop is almost floating. The prototype is made of ash with a matt, chrome-plated base. Later, a walnut version would also be produced for Wellesley College in Massachusetts. To complement the four-drawer desk, Kjær also designs a set of storage furniture. This furniture, with its adjustable shelves and drawers, was designed to be placed under the desk or as solitary units next to a wall.

Bodil Kjær's desk has been dubbed "the most beautiful desk in the world" and today enjoys iconic status. Partly for its timeless design, partly because it has appeared in popular culture, such as in the James Bond film From Russia With Love with Sean Connery. The desk is currently in production through Karakter and goes by the name Office Desk. Of course you can find it at NO-GA where it is available in both oak and walnut.