Principal dining table
Principal dining table
One of the last living mid-century Scandinavian design pioneers and a female pioneer in the field of architecture in her time, Bodil Kjær, conceived her Principal series in 1961 as part of an architectural exploration of interior solutions for modern living, called Elements of Architecture. Comprising a dining table and an upholstered dining chair, the Principal series epitomises Kjær’s forward-thinking cosmopolitan outlook and modernistic design language that slips fluidly into contemporary interior.
The solid wood dining table boasts a clarified form, repeating a simple angle throughout table legs and ends of the table top, while the dining chair with its circular seat and gently rounded backrest, beautifully upholstered, adds a softness to the clear, unfussed geometry, an invitation to linger.
Select finishNatural oak
One of the last living mid-century Scandinavian design pioneers and a female pioneer in the field of architecture in her time, Bodil Kjær, conceived her Principal series in 1961 as part of an architectural exploration of interior solutions for modern living, called Elements of Architecture. Comprising a dining table and an upholstered dining chair, the Principal series epitomises Kjær’s forward-thinking cosmopolitan outlook and modernistic design language that slips fluidly into contemporary interior. The solid wood dining table boasts a clarified form, repeating a simple angle throughout table legs and ends of the table top, while the dining chair with its circular seat and gently rounded backrest, beautifully upholstered, adds a softness to the clear, unfussed geometry, an invitation to linger.
With Principal Kjær uses a three-dimensional form rather than the more conventional flat or smooth joint of much furniture. It is a distinctive element that telegraphs its strength but also shows the sheer beauty of structure.
Bodil Kjær’s drawings showing the crisp clear form including a distinctive three-dimensional joint are precise and considered. Although never prototyped, the drawings were enough to inspire Christian Elving, CEO and Co-founder of Karakter to put what Kjær had called the Z series into production.
Read the story of Principal collectionBodil Kjær’s drawings showing the crisp clear form including a distinctive three-dimensional joint are precise and considered. Although never prototyped, the drawings were enough to inspire Christian Elving, CEO and Co-founder of Karakter to put what Kjær had called the Z series into production.
Read the story of Principal collectionProduct Material
Frame in solid oak or walnut with clear lacquer, table top in oak or walnut veneer with clear lacquer, plastic glides
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Principal family
She has been featured in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Magazine. She designed a desk for MIT which was dubbed ‘The most beautiful desk in the world’ and eventually immortalized in 3 early James Bond movies. Danish architect, designer and professor Bodil Kjær (born 1932) is the female trailblazer of Danish midcentury design, who although tutored by modernist master Finn Juhl, in her own words “… never had much interest in following in the footsteps of the Danish rat pack”. Kjær looked to America, inspired by Charles and Ray Eames, and indeed many of her most notable designs stems from her time in the U.S., where she briefly worked at Paul McCobb, before moving to Boston to further her career in corporate interior architecture. Kjær’s reignited prominence as a designer in later years is well deserved. Pared back, elegant and decidedly modern, her iconic pieces slip effortlessly into contemporary life 60 years on. Today, Bodil Kjær is back in Denmark and lives on the east coast of Jutland where she continues to teach, do research and participate in the architectural development of the city of Aarhus.
DESIGNED BY
Bodil Kjær
She has been featured in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal Magazine. She designed a desk for MIT which was dubbed ‘The most beautiful desk in the world’ and eventually immortalized in 3 early James Bond movies. Danish architect, designer and professor Bodil Kjær (born 1932) is the female trailblazer of Danish midcentury design, who although tutored by modernist master Finn Juhl, in her own words “… never had much interest in following in the footsteps of the Danish rat pack”. Kjær looked to America, inspired by Charles and Ray Eames, and indeed many of her most notable designs stems from her time in the U.S., where she briefly worked at Paul McCobb, before moving to Boston to further her career in corporate interior architecture. Kjær’s reignited prominence as a designer in later years is well deserved. Pared back, elegant and decidedly modern, her iconic pieces slip effortlessly into contemporary life 60 years on. Today, Bodil Kjær is back in Denmark and lives on the east coast of Jutland where she continues to teach, do research and participate in the architectural development of the city of Aarhus.
