Iconic Designs: The Swan Chair

You can use innovative designs that take center stage in your workplace, office, meeting rooms or simply in your own home. Cue classic designs: the Swan chair.

You can transform a setting by using certain furniture pieces. Color and furniture lines also play an important role in decor, but they should fit in with the rest of the setting.

Every element in interior design is a work of art because they serve aesthetic purposes. As for today’s topic, the Swan chair has held a great deal of artistic importance throughout history.

The Swan chair: a history

The Swan chair was created in 1958 by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. Two years before its creation, Jacobsen received a commission to design the suites of the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen (Denmark). The Swan chair was one of the resulting designs from the commission.

While he had already designed other chairs years before, he broke the mold with the Swan chair and paved a new road for different decor styles.

He spent countless days in his garage trying to create an original, modern chair. Throughout that time, he tapped into different inspirations, especially from architectural and sculptural sources.

— The Swan chair: a new decor concept, new design possibilities. —

Type of design: characteristics

The Swan chair broke free from traditional visual characteristics and expectations for seating. So, in which visual concepts does the chair fall under?

• Lineal continuity: the chair looks for movement, dynamism in form. It turns away from creating a stable structure and instead, turns to the curve for the main support. The chair evokes a swan.
• Minimalism: this chair is minimalist. The simplicity, subtlety, finesse and basic forms make it a perfect element for the decor style.
• Organic character: the Swan chair also falls under the organic art movement. It’s malleable character and continuous design give it an organic quality and makes it almost seem alive.
• Elegance: aside from the above characteristics, the chair is also extremely elegant. There are no clashes in the design and the chair invites the onlooker to have a seat. To achieve that elegance, Jacobsen purified the forms, let go of classic design models and gave the chair a gentle visual appeal.

— The Swan chair is synonymous for subtlety, dynamism and elegance. —

The materials

The first designs featured a wooden frame that kept the chair stable, allowing it to withstand weight and provide a safe structure.

Meanwhile, the exteriors featured upholstery that concealed natural fiber springs. But what did those springs exactly do? They provided users with a new level of comfort never experienced before in a simple chair.

Over time, the design spread and new models used different materials such as molded foam.

— Comfort and resistance along with a beautiful design. —

The perfect rooms for the Swan chair

The chair’s appearance might leave consumers scratching their heads at first. After its creation, the Swan chair made its way into home decor. But at first, it wasn’t a big hit. It was only later on when the masses understood how to fit it into their home decor.

Where will this chair look best? Which decor styles is it best suited for? Can it work in my home? Well, it all depends on your home decor style and what you want kind of ambiance you want to create.

• Offices: hands down, Swan chairs look amazing in offices thanks to the informal elegance of their shape. They create a dynamic setting that’s still functional.
• Hotels: new people pass through hotels on a daily basis. Thus, their decor must be relaxed, elegant and subtle, making Swan chairs perfect for them.
• At home: Swan chairs can also work in home decor, but you have to use them in a setting that corresponds to their design: minimalist, organic, modern, etc.

The Swan chair is an out-of-the-box furniture piece. If you’re looking for a change or something original, you’ve found your solution.