PK 52 Professor desk

Poul Kjærholm mastered the art of working with both steel and wood - an achievement evident in his 1955 table series for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. The designs, which have a clean, light expression, helped establish the talented furniture designer, who went on to become a pioneer of Danish design. The two tables now form a natural addition to Carl Hansen & Søn's collection.

Originally trained as a cabinetmaker, Poul Kjærholm skillfully mastered wood as part of his material repertoire, expanding over glass, leather and steel to traditional cabinetmaking. Particularly at the beginning of his career, he demonstrated great stylistic confidence with the organic material, and Kjærholm possessed a strong sense of the intrinsic potential of wood.

This ability is very evident in the unique furniture series Poul Kjærholm developed in 1955 for the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. The Academy needed a number of tables for lecturers and students, and Kjærholm, who had recently joined the academic staff, designed a Professor Desk made of Oregon pine with a black-lacquered steel frame and a Student Desk made of black-stained oak with a gray-lacquered steel frame. It was through this process that Poul Kjærholm perfected the synthesis between craftsmanship and industrial design, drawing on his experience in both cabinetmaking and furniture design to develop his highly recognizable signature style.

Poul Kjærholm's quality and functionality demands fit perfectly with Carl Hansen & Søn values, making the Table Series a natural addition to the collection. "The unique tables tell us something about Poul Kjærholm's development. He was not afraid to challenge his established colleagues and pave his own path. He was a talented cabinetmaker, but also adopted new materials such as steel, leather, flag halyard and canvas. He achieved a new lightness by combining wood and steel - a pairing that was not very common in his day, and which he succeeded in using in his own unique, simple and beautiful way," Knud Erik Hansen, CEO and third generation owner of Carl Hansen & Søn, explains.

Both tables are available with Oregon pine or oak veneer tabletops, with an oiled, lacquered or black-painted surface, and a black- or gray-lacquered steel frame. The optional drawer is available in oiled, lacquered or black-painted oak.