news + events
The Votes Are in…
February 5th, 2012
and the winner is…
Ralph Rapson's 1951 lounge won the chair design contest with 60% of the vote. This dynamic chair was designed to be produced with a steel frame, wood stetchers and upholstery. Danish Teak Classics will now be moving forward, in collaboration with Toby Rapson, to produce prototypes of this Ralph Rapson design.
Which Rapson Chair Should We Build Next?
January 13th, 2012
Place your vote in the poll below! Contest ends February 2nd, 2012. The winning Rapson design will be put into limited production and sold by Danish Teak Classics.
Option number 1 features a steel frame, wooden cross stretchers and upholstered seat and back. Option number 2 was intended by Ralph to be made solely of bent wood. The third option is quite unique and features a plywood frame with upholstered seat and back.
RALPH RAPSON: Chair Design – the Architect’s Studio, Opening Reception + Release Event!
December 22nd, 2011
The event will feature both vintage and new Rapson rockers to view and test, as well as design sketches from the Ralph Rapson collection archives. Attendees will have the exciting opportunity to vote for the next Ralph Rapson chair design to be produced. All are welcome.
Rapson Bentwood Rocker http://www.danishteakclassics.com/products/rapson-bentwood-rocker/ | Rapson Greenbelt Rocker http://www.danishteakclassics.com/products/rapson-greenbelt-rocker/ | Highback Rapson Greenbelt Rocker http://www.danishteakclassics.com/products/highback-rapson-greenbelt-rocker/
Ralph Rapson – Part II: The Scandinavian Embassies
December 9th, 2011This past spring, while researching Sweden's mid-century approach to mass housing projects, I had no idea there was any connection with the most famous modernist architect of my home town Minneapolis, Ralph Rapson. As I walked the streets of Stockholm, unbeknownst to me, perched on a rocky hilltop in the Djurgarden district overlooking the city centre, still sits the 1955 US Embassy designed by Rapson and his former Chicago partner architect, John van der Meulen. Rapson was granted US Embassy commissions in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, and The Hague. When the pair reached Stockholm, they set up an office inside the well-established practice of architect Anders Tengbom. Several local architects from Copenhagen and Stockholm assisted on the projects, basically turning Rapson's designs into working drawings for the review boards and contractors.
With hardly any monetary or design limitations from the US government, Rapson designed at will, but met disapproval with the mighty overarching force of Sven Markelius, Stockholm's master urban planner. Markelius was the mind behind the 'ABC' cities – Arbete-Bostad-Centrum [Work-Housing-Center] that dotted along the high speed rail lines radiating out of the city "like pearls on a string". His planned cities were, and still are, regarded as some of the most successful modern solutions to mass housing shortages. With a city in crisis, Markelius was given the power and burden of alleviating the cities housing shortage and providing its citizens with comfortable, affordable housing on a very limited budget. Miraculously, he did accomplish this, and to my knowledge, his ABC cities are still well loved by their inhabitants today. By the time of Rapson's arrival, his opinion was not one to be reckoned with. Rapson noted that every building planned for the city required a room-size model to be studied judiciously by Markelius before any plans went forward. "Everything in Stockholm went through that man" noted Rapson, including a foreign embassy.
Markelius edited out details of Rapson's design that didn't meet his taste, such as the barrel vaults that had no special precedence in the Swedish architectural vocabulary. Markelius insisted the building must not tower over its surroundings, and Rapson's design was reduced from 6 stories to 3. Even with the strong personalities and differences in opinion, construction was underway in a matter of months. What came of it was a modern building with an American personality but a Swedish mind to function. The strong geometric forms spoke of the interior hierarchy and function, keeping the public services in the one-story wing wrapping around the central 3-story tower. Natural light filled the interior through the floor-to-ceiling windows and reflected off the polished granite sheathed walls. A dramatic main stair ran the full height of the building, showing dramatically through the expansive glass wall. As far as I know, the building still stands and is still in use by the US Embassy. Pictures of the building have been hard to come by, so if you have any on hand, please send them onward.
The site in Copenhagen was much more restrictive, requiring Rapson and van der Meulen to fit the embassy between two existing buildings along a historic square. Though a modern esthetic was approved, the design had to correspond with the adjacent cornice lines and the facade had to be set back 23 feet from the others as to not be too loud in the the cityscape. As Rapson said, he "sort of shoe-horned the thing into the site."
Though the building in Copenhagen caused much less commotion than that in Stockholm, reviews of the Stockholm embassy tended to be in favour of it, if begrudgingly. Sven Markelius reportedly wrote in 1954 after a thorough inspection, that it was "the best office building in Stockholm". The size and stark modernity was unsettling to many in a group of 350 Swedish artists and architects that toured the building, but many conceded that the trend in architecture was going that way, and it would be senseless to revert to earlier, less challenging styles. The structure was awarded the AIA First Honors Award in 1955. The US embassy in Copenhagen was awarded the Danish Medal for Good Design by the Danish government in the same year. Of course, not everyone liked it, some criticizing it for it's "melancholy undertaker's interiors", but on the whole, it were regarded as a success and some ventured to go as far as calling it "one of the most beautiful, functional buildings in Copenhagen."
For a full account of Rapson's work for US embassies abroad, reference The Architecture of Diplomacy: Building America's Embassies, by Jane C. Leoffler. [quotes are taken from p. 72-75]
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics
Rapson-Inc. Exhibition
November 26th, 2011
Danish Teak Classics will soon be collaborating with Rapson-Inc. in an event to introduce a selection of Ralph Rapson lounge chairs being put back into production. Starting with the most famous and beloved designs, Rapson-Inc. has begun producing these thoughtfully-designed, modern pieces for the public once again. Rapson-Inc. originally began in 1950 while Ralph and Mary Rapson were living in Boston and Ralph was working as an architect and professor at MIT. At the time, there was a shortage of modern furniture on the market fit for Ralph's modern building designs. The couple worked collaboratively on the pieces, with Mary seeing to all the fine details, finances and promotion. Today, Rapson-Inc. remains in the family, now run by Toby Rapson, son and business partner at Rapson Architects of the late Ralph Rapson. Working with Ralph's design archive, the design team at Rapson Architects and master craftsman Jonathan Loeck, Rapson-Inc. has reproduced the Rapson Rocker first designed by Ralph at Cranbrook in 1939. We can't think of a better way to remember the man behind the designs than to reintroduce the public to his works, especially at a time when he has been receiving increasing notice as one of the foremost important American modernist architects.
Ralph Rapson had a prolific career, spending 70 years of his life shaping and defining American Modernism. His unique, clean, comic sketches caught the eye of Eliel Saarinen, the most influential early modernist architect in Finland, and landed Rapson a scholarship under his tutorial at Cranbrook Academy in Michigan. His class roster reads like a who's-who list of top mid-century modern designers: Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, Henry Bertoia, and Florence Schust (Knoll). Rapson went on to work for the Saarinen's in their American firm, taught and studied at the New Bauhaus school in Chicago, designed the Case Study House 4 – the Rapson Greenbelt House, designed a line of furniture for Knoll in 1945, then opened his own furniture studio, Rapson-Inc. in 1950. Over his long, prosperous career, Rapson won many competitions and awards, including the 2007 Dwell Lounge competition at age 92. He also oversaw the redesign of his bentwood rocker, the first of his designs to be reintroduced in 2002.
Danish Teak Classics is proud to be a part of the reintroduction of this line of Rapson classics. Select Rapson chairs will be on show in the DTC showroom starting in January 2012. with a special opening event on December 29th. Please stop by to see these beautiful pieces by our own local iconic modernist architect, Ralph Rapson. Over the month of December, we will be highlighting different aspects or projects of Rapson's illustrious career, so be sure to check back.
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics
à Paris nous allons!
November 24th, 2011While sharing a bottle of cava at a little Swedish bar near the harbor in Leith a few months ago, my friend Susan was reminiscing about the time she lived in Paris. Like me, she has a degree in art history and recently finished the MSc in architectural conservation. She talked about her favourite districts, the street venders, the coffee shops, the view from the Arch de Triomphe, the art galleries and the beautifully dressed women. After a few minutes, I decided we should just book tickets that night and go. Buzzing from the bubbly and excitement of adventure, we did just that. That was months ago and I cannot believe how the date has snuck up on me. Up to this point, I have not done any planning or research, but luckily, my creative, well-traveled flatmate Cameron has a copy of Graphic Europe: An Alternative Guide to 31 European Cities. Having never been to Paris, I'm sure I will want to visit some the typical tourist sites – Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Musée d'Orsay, etc – but this guide offers an altogether unique approach to tourism compared to the other guides. A graphic designer in each city was asked to suggest their favourite places to stay, to eat, to go, to see,to do. Each section has the individual graphic stamp of the designer, beautiful, tasteful and unique. Elamine Maecha's Paris begins with a foreword to introduce the reader to the truths and untruths of the city often held by outsiders. Maecha describes the city as an escargot – spiraling outward from the oldest districts in the centre. Arrondissements 18, 19, and 20, he says, have a mix of immigrant inhabitants and 'bobos' (bourgeois boheme) – architects, designers, lawyers and other intellects that have been priced out of other districts. For Maecha, the 18th not only offered cheap rent, but the mixture of people created a natural vibrancy, a fresh openness which bred creativity.
Maecha suggests bars and restaurants both for their food and atmosphere. In the shopping section, Galerie Dansk is listed first, featuring vintage mid-century Danish furniture. Maecha applauds it's immaculate layout and I hope to have a browse through their inventory. Also highlighted is the Librairie la Hune in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Since opened in 1949, this bookshop has been a home away from home for such literary figures as Max Ernst, Henri Michaux and Andre Breton.
Next to the Musée d'Art Moderne, in what was a derelict Art Deco building, now sits the Palais de Tokyo. With no permanent collection, the gallery is unorthodox in its ability to experiment fully with temporary installations. As a huge fan of the new Guthrie Theatre by Jean Nouvel in Minneapolis, I am curious to see what he has done at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. In Maecha's opinion, the architecture is integral to its contents, merging into the surrounding Luxembourg Gardens while promoting contemporary art. The Galerie Magda Danysz is a trendy place all the aforementioned 'bobos' like to go. Near the Picasso Gallery, a strange gallery, Espace Topographie de l'Art, hosts exhibitions in a completely unmodernized old warehouse. Though I feel I should visit the Louvre, I feel these small quirky galleries will proffer a better glimpse into the modern creative currents running through Paris.
In many ways, Paris was the canvas for modern architects. It is here that the Baron von Haussmann implemented his image of wide, monolithic boulevards connecting the most important monuments and buildings of the city in the 19th century. His plans for Paris had a worldwide rippling effect on cities undergoing urban renewal for decades to come. Le Corbusier, arguably the most influential modern architect in the 20th century, built a number of modern structures within the boundaries of Paris, including the Villa la Roche, the Pavillion Suisse, the Villa Savoye and the Immeuble Molitor. Though it is most definitely impossible to see all the places I've talked about here, I'll write a follow-up review of the gems I am sure to come across in my own experience.
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics
A Royal Affair
November 16th, 2011
A Royal Affair looks to be an historic drama ripe with sex, scandal, and betrayal set in one of them most important historical political events in Denmark's history. The plot, the young Queen, Caroline Mathilda (Alicia Vikander), falls secretly in love with her insane husband Christian VII's (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard) physician, Johann Friedrick Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen). The pair are strong, brave, idealistic and willing to risk their lives for each other and for the freedom the Danish people deserve. Rather than rewrite something that is already well written, I've included a snippet of the story below, which can be read in full at the Copenhagen Post.
After settling down to practice in Altona, Struensee’s sharp intellect and controversial political treatises began to impress several aristocrats who had been rejected from the court in Copenhagen. His fledgling relationship with Danish politics intensified in the summer of 1767 when Struensee began treating King Christian VII of Denmark – a psychotic and violent young royal with a voracious sexual appetite. His treatment was effective and he gained the king’s affections, becoming his travelling physician on a foreign tour to Paris and London. The pair developed a close relationship during the trip and the king began to trust Struensee absolutely. Pleased with the doctor’s positive influence, powerful courtiers supported Struensee’s permanent appointment as the king’s personal physician upon their return to Copenhagen.
Now Johann Struensee was not only a clever doctor but also an astute and ambitious man. He saw the potential to manipulate the ailing king in order to experiment with the Danish state. Struensee calculated that he should also win over the young queen to consolidate his influence at court. However, the king’s wife was at best indifferent to her husband’s new pal.
Queen Caroline Mathilde – the sister of George III, the king of Britain – was in an unfortunate position. Having been forced to leave her home and move to Denmark at the age of 15 to marry her cousin, she was now neglected by Christian VII. His affections for his young wife were lukewarm, to put it mildly. It is reported that despite being a regular at the city’s brothels, he had to be persuaded to consummate their marriage for the sake of the succession.
Spurned by her husband and her subjects, Caroline Mathilde eventually fell into the well-placed arms of Struensee, who provided the attention and affection that she craved. Her capitulation was helped by the doctor’s successful inoculation of Crown Prince Frederick VI, saving the child’s life as smallpox ravaged Copenhagen. By spring 1770, the pair had become lovers.
I'll stop there so I don't give away the ending to anyone who doesn't wish to hear it! The trailer for the film can be watched at the Trust Nordisk site. The highly anticipated film is set to be released 15 March 2012 in the UK. Director Nikolaj Arcel has recently been nominated for The Nordic Film Council Prize, the most prestigious film award in Scandinavia, for the comedic drama Truth About Men (2010). Arcel wrote the screenplay for Stieg Larsson's The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, and has won numerous awards for King's Game (2004) and The Island of Lost Souls (2007).
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics
Designer Flatware
November 13th, 2011
Designers and Architects are often commended for their attention to detail. Some have even received opportunities to design spaces down to the hardware on the doors and the flatware for the dining table. Today’s blog is meant to acknowledge those Scandinavian Designers that have brought those opportunities into a successfully-designed product.
Finnish Architect Eliel Saarinen (Eero’s father) designed a place setting for the 1929 exhibition The Architect and the Industrial Arts at the Met. Unfortunately, the architect’s flatware design (above, left) was never put into production, but the stepped construction of the silverware’s handle is a fantastic reminder of the skyscrapers that revolutionized architecture of the time.
Danish Architect and Designer Arne Jacobsen created a flatware design for one of his most well-known buildings, the SAS Royal Hotel (above, right) in Copenhagen. His design removes the exaggerated curves of the common eating utensil and creates a more subtle transition from handle to end. This set (above, center)was often called “the cutlery with no frills” and is remarkably modern and innovative, even in 2011.
Unlike the other Designers discussed here, Danish Industrial Designer Jens Quistgaard, specialized in tableware. Quistgaard designed items for Dansk from the company’s inception. His pieces included ice buckets, salad bowls, cutting boards, candelabras and flatware, all with elegant woodcut pieces and a general Scandinavian sensibility. To see Quistgaard at work, look for the documentary The Designer Jens Quistgaard: A saucepan for My Wife (2010) by Stig Guldberg.
At your next meal, take a "design eye" to that flatware you use each day.
Happy eating!
Anne Klemm for Danish Teak Classics
The Dezeen Book of Ideas
November 8th, 2011
Dezeen, an online design magazine, has released two books of interest for the design minded individual. The Dezeen Book of Ideas is a compilation of 116 design innovations selected from Dezeen's deep archives. The selection covers architecture, interiors and design, most of which are inspiring and uplifting in their conceptual approach to creating a better life through design. Mobile phones powered by fizzy drinks, fabric cars and houses with indoor slides are just a few of the featured projects. The book is filled with large, colored photos accompanied by current, rewritten commentary. Dezeen is the world's most influential online architecture and design resource; one I can vouch is definitely worth a bookmark.
One of the most ingenious products featured in the book is an expanding bookshelf by Reinier de Jong. Sleek and functional, the REK bookcase is as much an essential piece of furniture as it is sculptural. Rather than taking up an allocated amount of space in your home, this shelf expands with your book collection, only using up as much space as necessary.
The Corpus 2.0 photographs by Amsterdam based artist, Marcia Nolte, examine the concept of amending the body to our needs, rather than designing a product around our bodies. Each photo exhibits a subtle, but jarring mutation; an enlarged shoulder to keep a purse strap from slipping, a high-heeled heel, a cigarette slot in the lips [see photo above]. Nolte chooses to work with every day objects and experiences, then challenges herself and viewers to see each with fresh eyes.
Published alongside the Dezeen Book of Ideas this year is the 2012-2013 edition of the London Design Guide, edited by Spotlight Publisher's founder, Max Fraser. The book highlights the city's design galleries, bookshops, museums and all the best vintage and contemporary retailers. After following one of the walking tours, or browsing the sites around one of the neighborhoods the book is broken down into, you'll be in need of a strong coffee and a rest. For that, the guide suggests cafes, restaurants and bars selected for their credentials and creativity in design and food.
Each book is sold for £12, or £20 for the pair. Of course, the books can be shipped worldwide for a small additional fee, making them a nice gift for anyone with a creative spirit.
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics
Art Attack 2011
November 2nd, 2011
The Northrup King Building will host its annual Art Attack event this coming weekend, November 4th – 6th. These bi-annual open studio events offer the public a rare opportunity to peek into the working studios of 200+ artists and meet the people behind the product. The autumn Art Attack has typically been a more intimate event, as only the Northrup King Building is open to guests, rather than all the studios of the NE Minneapolis area as is the case with the Art-A-Whirl events in May each year. So before you go into hibernation mode, get out this weekend and discover some of the budding talent right in your back yard. Get a sneak preview on Thursday night, 5-9p, as many of the galleries and studios will be open for the monthly 'First Thursday' event.
Our friend and neighbor down the hall, Kyle Osvog, will be showing and selling his own ceramic sculptures and vases, as well as hosting a guest artist, Josie Lewis. Lewis is a Minneapolis based artist who makes large pieces of art compiled of layers and layers of little pieces of paper. About her work, she says, "I love what already is. The world, as is, offers bounty. I love to sort it, organize it, catalogue it, and liberate it. I make this bounty bigger and weightier. American fashion magazines, already excessive in literal mass and volume, come to my door monthly. I anxiously examine them to consider the true meaning of artifice, style, and beauty. I do this, of course, by reading them upside down." Her website offers a stage-by-stage pictorial of the process she goes through. The end product is an abstract yet ornate collage with the beauty of a stained glass window.
Studio 443 of Icebox Gallery will be hosting the work of one of the most privileged photographers of Tinsletown in the 1970s and 1980s. Ulvis Alberts was born in Riga, Latvia in 1942. After being displaced during the war, he moved with his family to the US in 1949. The exhibition, entitled Camera as a Passport, is a collection of moments he captured while gaining that elusive invitation into the quieter moments of celebrity life. "I planned on returning to Seattle, but Hollywood doors opened up a bit and my still camera became a 'visitor card'."
Sun Gallery Chinese Art and Antiques in suite 451, will be exhibiting and selling art by Chinese peasants of the Shaanxi Provence. The works have become collector pieces as the peasant way of life has become more modernized. The artists are all untrained, giving their pieces an unharnessed honesty. The paintings represent the everyday life themes and concerns of the people in a wonderful, bright medium.
And of course, we are excited to host our own guest artists at Danish Teak Classics, Nathan Danials. As a child, Danials lived the good life on a family farm in Wisconsin, no doubt nurturing a love for building something by hand, guided by the principles of nature and simplicity. Danials become interested in modern design after moving to the Twin Cities to work for a local furniture company. He began his own design career by designing modern outdoor furniture, but has since branched out into, as you could have guessed by the name – burd haus, Bauhaus-esqe birdhouses. The burd haus has everything that would appeal to any architecture aficionado – quality materials, appealing colour combinations, simple (mostly functional) form, and a quirky individuality. My favourite is the simple blue Po-Mo styled house. If you don't live in Minneapolis/St. Paul, you can purchase the burd haus at Daniels' Etsy store, but come by to meet the artist and say hello if you're able! Don't miss the major art event of the Autumn season!
Art Attack
Northrup King Building
1500 Jackson St NE, Minneapolis MN 55413
'First Thursday', November 3, 2011 5:00 – 9:00PM
Friday, November 4, 2011 5:00-10:00 PM
Saturday, November 5, 2011 Noon – 8:00 PM
Sunday, November 6, 2011 Noon – 5:00 PM
Caroline Engel for Danish Teak Classics