It was a typical Scandinavian phenomenon producing furniture especially for schools, for a long time. Hay re-vitalizes this tradition with the Copenhague Collection of the Bouroullec brothers.
Hay invited both A&W Designers of the Year 2013 to create a furniture collection for the renovated University of Copenhagen. The collection named after the Danish capital includes a chair, a barstool and diverse tables. The aim was clear: The Copenhagen Collection should be practical and ergonomic, but also fulfil ergonomic criteria thereby.
The first step for the Copenhague Collection was the inspiration of a prominent idol: The Trestle Chair by Bernt Pedersen – a simple chair with uncomplicated identity. The simplicity of the formal idol characterizes the Copenhague series, while the Copenhague chair , the Copenhague barstool and the Copenhague tables are doubtlessly anchored in modernity.
The function was also important to Hay and the designers: The seat and back of the Copenhague chairs are fixed in the middle, so that flexible swinging is possible. The ergonomics is oriented by classic cantilevers of the Bauhaus era.
Flexibility and charming expression
Flexibility is important in Universities: In order to ensure this, chairs and tables of the Copenhague Collection were made stackable. Contrasting many other chairs, the Copenhague chairs are thereby vertically stackable upwards, without growing to the front. These qualities is also suitable for private homes, since it spares space and offers more chairs where other chairs might be needed.
Hay and the Bouroullecs achieved in freeing the Copenhague furniture pieces from the institutional and burocratic character of traditional furniture in schools and to create objects with originality and homely appeal.
The Copenhague Collection by Hay is available with different materials: soaped beech wood, painted oak or stained oak. The Copenhague chair is also available as cushioned chair.
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec