February 1, 2008
Something Old, Something New
Fritz Hansen’s new table marries contemporary style to midcentury classics.
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.