True to form

Entering her tenth decade, Bodil Kjær continues her lifelong exploration of the interplay between design and architecture

- JENI PORTER

Bodil Kjær is as precise as the architectural lines of her furniture. Ahead of an interview, she sends talking points that read like a manifesto: ‘I am not a furniture designer; I am a designer of environments. I am concerned about solving problems of the kind that can be defined. I am concerned about delight and beauty rather than opulence and vulgarity.’

She turned 90 in March and is as clear, forthright and consistent as the texts that she wrote 45 or more years ago. When asked if she is surprised about the full-on revival of interest in her designs, Kjær says, ‘No, I have done the same thing all along.’ It just took a while for a new generation to catch up. ‘I go out, I see a problem and I work with other people to solve it. That’s what I say to young people – don’t compete with each other about who can make the fanciest chair. There are many problems that need solving by a designer – go and find them.’

This clarity of purpose goes some way towards explaining why Kjær’s elegant creations from the late 1950s to mid-1960s have proved so timeless. The chairs, tables, desks, lights and vases were never created as objects per se, but rather designed in the broader context of space, as what she calls ‘elements of architecture’, to address specific problems relating to use and aesthetics.