to design furniture with movement and life. Finn Juhl took pride in making both the structurally supportive elements of the furniture and the seated person look as though they are floating. In some of his chairs, the backrest and the seat are almost invisibly joined, as if they were clouds floating through the room.
In creating his furniture, Finn Juhl worked with two elements: The carrying element, and the carried. He eventually became known for his special ability to separate the bearing parts from the borne. This is one of many examples of how he broke free from conventional working methods and found his inspiration in art.
Initially, in fact, Finn Juhl wanted to become an art historian. Since his early years, he had been interested in fine arts. However, his father wouldn’t allow a career as an artist. Instead, Finn Juhl enrolled at the Department of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen. Finn Juhl began his studies in the 1930s, which was an important period in furniture design, when modern design started to emerge. While he was still a student, Finn Juhl started working with the prominent Danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen in 1934 where he worked on major projects such as the Danish Broadcasting House and Copenhagen Airport.
Finn Juhl was kept so busy that he never finished his studies. Despite this, he received the honour of becoming a member of the Academic Architect Society in 1942 and, later in life, he became a visiting professor at the Institute of Design in Chicago. By the time he had made a name as a furniture designer, he would always speak of himself as being self-taught.
One of the international highlights of Finn Juhl’s career was designing the complete interior of the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN headquarters in New York between 1951 and 1952.
