News from the Ant

An ant-like silhouette: the Ant Chair is just as delicate as it is practical for everyday use. Stackable, yet comfortable for sitting. At the beginning of the 1950s, Arne Jacobsen developed the chair for the staff cafeteria at the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg district. It was the first chair with a one-piece seat pan – and is now an icon of Danish Mid-Century design.

Arne Jacobsen originally designed the Ant Chair for the staff cafeteria at the Novo Nordisk company in Copenhagen. © Fritz Hansen

Reduction

Fritz Hansen has been making the chair, which bears the unmistakable signature of its designer, since 1952. The reduced use of materials and the curvy, yet unpretentious form of the Ant made Jacobsen’s design not only famous, but popular as well. It is elegant and restrained, lively yet not overdone. The Ant is also a symbol of Danish design.

An upholstered silhouette

The Ant has been produced by Fritz Hansen for 70 years; it has now been updated with an upholstered front in fabric or leather. The incomparable silhouette remains, but the seat pan is even more comfortable. The new fabric options complement the variations on the Ant Chair, which is already available in many different combinations of seat pans, frames and colours. The update comes in a selection of 16 colours compiled by Carla Sozzano. For the upholstery, the Fritz Hansen team offers collections of fabrics and leather. “The contrast between the inner and outer materials creates a wonderful dynamic that accentuates the design of the chair”, says Marie-Louise Høstbo, an architect and Creative Design Director at Fritz Hansen.

Danish masterclass

Jacobsen often designed his furniture for specific architecture projects. Like no other, the architect left his mark on the Danish design landscape and left a broad legacy of buildings and designs such as the Danish National Bank, the Bellevue Theatre and a large number of renowned chairs including the Egg Chair, the Swan and the Ant. The Danish architect died in 1971; some of his most remarkable designs have been made and sold by Fritz Hansen since 1934.

Click here for the company portrait of Fritz Hansen.