OCEAN COLLECTION CELEBRATES 70 YEARS

Campaign Imagery in Ditzel’s Presence

The images for the Ocean collection’s 70th anniversary campaign were uniquely shot at Nanna Ditzel’s former summer house, now owned and inhabited by Nanna Ditzel’s daughter, Vita Ditzel, and her husband Søren.

The summer house is located in Hornbæk and was Nanna Ditzel’s sanctuary in the North Zealand summer landscape from 1963 to 1987. Originally built in 1952, Ditzel expanded it with a studio-like extension that still features custom-designed sofa beds and cabinets created by Nanna Ditzel specifically for the space. Throughout the house, Nanna and Jørgen’s influence is evident through furniture and treasured items inherited by their children from the designer couple.

For instance, the summer house’s seating arrangement centers around a striking, round three-tier coffee table in maple, which Ditzel designed in the 1980s. This table serves both a functional purpose and acts as a sculptural element in the room, characteristic of many of Ditzel’s designs. The table is flanked by the elegant Mondial series with organic forms upholstered in red fabric – a furniture series designed in 1978.

The campaign images were primarily shot in the garden surrounding the house, but as an additional campaign element, a few pictures capture the house’s original interior along with old photographs and original drawings of the Ocean collection from when it was first designed in 1955.

A Daughter’s Perspective:
Ocean Collection’s 70th Anniversary Through Vita Ditzel’s Eyes

Q&A with Vita Ditzel, daughter of Nanna Ditzel

Q: Red is a recurring color in both the interior and the building – did this color have a special significance for Nanna?

Vita Ditzel: Nanna was generally very fond of strong colors, and the red color appears repeatedly in the decoration of her own homes since the mid-60s. The starting point for this color choice can be seen in the Vilette furniture from 1966, which Nanna used both in the family home in Bagsværd and later also in London. I think she saw it as a warm and cheerful color that helps create a good atmosphere.

Q: What does it mean to you to continue living with Nanna’s designs in your daily life?

Vita Ditzel: It is with pride that we surround ourselves with Nanna’s furniture in everyday life. I grew up with her designs and greatly appreciate both the forms, colors, usability, and sitting comfort. In addition, we think her designs are beautiful and definitely durable.

Q: Is there a particular piece of interior from the house that has special significance for you?

Vita Ditzel: We are very fond of the carpenter-made kitchen and wardrobes, which Nanna designed herself. Additionally, the Mondial series and the large 3-tier coffee table form a very central gathering point in the living room, which we cannot imagine better.

Q: What was Nanna’s connection to Dronningmølle (where she previously had a summer house) and Hornbæk?

Vita Ditzel: When Nanna was a child and young, she spent many summers on vacation in North Zealand with her family, where they rented various summer houses. It was important to Nanna’s parents that the family went on vacation, and summer house life became part of Nanna’s DNA. During the war, the trip to the summer landscape was by bicycle. Additionally, as an adult, she had good friends in North Zealand, including the couple Gunnar and Grete Aagaard Andersen, who lived in what is today the Munkeruphus museum.

Nanna became alone with her three daughters in the spring of 1961, and she undoubtedly thought it was important to find a place where the family could vacation. She bought the summer house in 1962, and the family had their first summer vacation in Hornbæk in 1963. It was important to Nanna that the summer house was easy to reach from Copenhagen.

When Nanna and her then-husband Kurt Heide decided to move from London in 1983, they bought the summer house in Dronningmølle, where they planned to live during the summers, while also beginning the search for a winter residence in Italy or Spain. Unfortunately, Kurt became ill and died before this became a reality, but after a few years of consideration and renovation, Nanna began using the summer house in Dronningmølle in late 1986. She chose to keep the summer house in Hornbæk for the pleasure of her three daughters and our families who shared using it. This meant that we could be close to Nanna during holidays and weekends.

Nanna never lived permanently in the summer house (neither in Hornbæk nor in Dronningmølle). But she always used both houses a lot. When we were children, we were at the summer house during all holidays and many weekends. In summer, we were there for 7 consecutive weeks. Nanna couldn’t take 7 weeks of vacation, but she had arranged things so she could also work in the summer house, and she could easily go to Copenhagen once a week for meetings, etc.

When Nanna lived in London, the house on Vibevej became the Danish base, and we still had a long summer vacation in Hornbæk every year.

More design by Nanna Ditzel:

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