February 2008 • In Production
Something Old, Something New
Fritz Hansen’s new table marries contemporary style to midcentury classics.
By Belinda Lanks
Home decoration is often an evolutionary process. You inherit some time-tested classics (a set of Eames chairs, a Shaker dresser) and, along with the occasional Ikea purchase, gradually add instant or soon-to-be classics (a Philippe Stark lamp, a Jasper Morrison coffeemaker). Can the miscellany cohere? The catalog of the Danish furniture manufacturer Fritz Hansen suggests it can: the firm continues to produce its iconic midcentury pieces while commissioning new but compatible work from up-and-coming talent. Its latest release, the T-No.1 table, by Todd Bracher, was conceived specifically to complement one of its stock designs, Arne Jacobsen’s Oxford chair, first produced in 1965. “I think I have a similar mentality to Arne Jacobsen in terms of how I design,” Bracher says. “It’s a reductive technique, taking away all the nonsense to create just a functioning piece of furniture.” Here he takes us through the finer details of his sleek table.
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We thought the deer foot would be the nicest solution because it’s very elegant. We paid attention to even those little decisions—that’s what supports this whole table, this last little detail.
If you look at the spine or leg, there’s a slight curvature to the surface. It’s quite striking how adding that dimension changed the table’s personality because of how it reflects light.
Since the crossbars are extruded, you can extend the table to practically any length. You can join the tables to form a 50-foot-long surface with only one center leg. It works just as well as a desk as it does a very long conference table.
The original concept was trying to find a natural solution through efficiency of form. It’s like redesigning the bicycle, you know—how much more can you do? So the idea was to take away everything. I keep seeing a fish skeleton in my mind, just ribs and spine.
A dealer asked me to explain the difference between my table and Norman Foster’s Nomos, which looks like a glass building with a spider hanging inside. In my mind, they’re completely different tables; mine is a much more sensual, feminine approach to an executive desk. It’s not just for the Deutsche Bank variety of businessman.
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