Step into the Story of Finn Juhl
Finn Juhl's house in Ordrup, just north of Copenhagen, is an exquisite example of Danish modernism in architecture, furniture design, and visual art – and a unique opportunity to experience the full scope of his talent. Not only through his many iconic pieces of furniture, displayed here in their intended context, but also in the encounter with the spaces, the colors, the light, and not least, the art.
Finn Juhl built the house at Kratvænget 15 for himself and his then wife, Inge-Marie, in 1942. After their divorce, he moved in with Hanne Wilhelm Hansen, who continued to live in the house until her death in 2003. Today, the house has been preserved for posterity as part of the Ordrupgaard museum complex – made possible by Birgit Lyngbye Pedersen, who purchased and donated the house to the museum.
The house consists of two buildings covering 180 square metres, later expanded to 207 square metres. It includes a large living room and a smaller study, as well as a long wing with dining room, kitchen, bedrooms, and bathroom. The two buildings are connected by a lower linking section housing the entrance hall and garden room.
The early 1940s were hardly an ideal time to build a house, with wartime shortages and rationing limiting access to materials. Finn Juhl, however, had an advantage: he had worked at the architectural firm of Vilhelm Lauritzen. Through his involvement in the construction of Radiohuset and the airport terminal, he established connections with suppliers who could provide what he needed – even at a time when almost every building material was rationed.
Finn Juhl's Gesamtkunstwerk
Although Finn Juhl originally studied architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, he only designed a handful of houses. Instead, he focused on interiors and, above all, on bold and pioneering furniture. His own house was built from the inside out – on the premises of the interior rather than the architecture. The furniture shaped the rooms, and the rooms shaped the facade.
From the completion of the house until his death in 1989, Finn Juhl continuously refined its interior down to the smallest detail. He had a clear ambition to furnish his home entirely with objects of his own design, and in 1950 he wrote:
"If before my departure from this world I have succeeded in filling the house I designed for myself with furniture, carpets, curtains, lamps, tableware, glass, silver, etc., all designed by myself, then I have achieved a true goal."
He never fully reached that goal, but he came closer than most architects. Today, the house stands as a modernist Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art uniting architecture, design, and art into a single coherent whole.
A Personal Laboratory
Throughout the years Finn Juhl lived there, the house served as his personal laboratory, where every prototype was tested before being exhibited or produced. In a 1954 interview with The New York Times design writer Betty Pepis, Finn Juhl explained that his own house had always been the starting point for his furniture – ever since he designed his first pieces for his own apartment in the early 1930s. He also explained why he designed both houses and interiors:
"When I build a house, I don't like other people coming in and ruining it."
Over time, new furniture replaced the old, and only the very best pieces remained. Early photographs of the interior show classic Windsor chairs around the dining table – a temporary solution until he was satisfied with his own dining chair designs. In the 1940s, these were replaced by the 46 Chairs, and in 1949 by the Egyptian Chairs, which still stand there today.
– Finn Juhl
What makes the house truly unique is Finn Juhl's ability to think holistically – his furniture is both sculptural forms that define space in themselves and integral parts of a larger whole, enhanced by his use of color and the play of light from the large floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the garden.
For Finn Juhl, color played a decisive role. He was a pioneer in his deliberate use of color as an architectural device – not only on walls, ceilings, and doors, but as an active means of creating spatial coherence and atmosphere. Color became an integral part of his overall design language and reappeared in many of his furniture pieces, where contrasts and nuances accentuated both form and material.
The furniture, however, do not stand alone; art holds an equally central place. Works by leading Danish artists of the time – including Vilhelm Lundstrøm, Asger Jorn, Erik Thommesen, and Sonja Ferlov Mancoba – were carefully selected by Finn Juhl himself.
Provocative and Challenging
Standing inside Finn Juhl's house today, it can be difficult to imagine that it was once considered provocative – a challenge to notions of good taste. Yet that was precisely the case. In 1949, the Danish newspaper Politiken visited Finn Juhl in Ordrup and published an article describing the experience as follows:
"There is no doubt that ordinary people will experience one of those shocks that herald the end of the world if they, unprepared, visit architect Finn Juhl’s modern and functionalist home in Ordrup. […] In this home, everything is so bright and accessible that a vacuum cleaner would have a nervous breakdown over its own uselessness."
Finn Juhl's furniture can be seen in several places at the museum. Among other things, fifteen Pelican Chairs are exhibited in dialogue with the museum’s modern architecture. The chairs are upholstered in both warm and cool tones, inspired by Finn Juhl's distinctive and expressive use of color.
