Introducing the front-upholstered PK23™ lounge chair by Poul Kjærholm an homage to the early career of the Danish Master
An homage to the early career of the Danish master
Fritz Hansen is pleased to announce the launch of a front-upholstered version of Poul Kjærholm’s recently released PK23™ lounge chair, bringing new expressions and enhanced comfort to this sculptural design. The chair itself is a radical composition of moulded plywood, crafted metal detailing, and an innovative double-shell seat.
Designed in 1954, when the 25-year-old Dane was exploring plywood and industrial techniques, the PK23™ is a precursor to the steel-framed furniture for which Kjærholm (1929–1980) would become renowned.
For Fritz Hansen and the designer’s family, the PK23™ represents a lesser-known story—one that reveals a more democratic and accessible side of Kjærholm’s body of work. A ground-breaking design from his early career, it bears the mark of the master in its linear contour, floating structure, precise detailing, and bold treatment of plywood.
“The PK23™ pays homage to part of Poul’s design life that was just forgotten in a way,” says Christian Andresen, Creative Experience Director, Fritz Hansen. “For a long time, Poul Kjærholm has been renowned for this immaculate steel furniture—a body of work that was exclusive and almost rarefied. Now, together with his children, we realise there is an untold Kjærholm story: more democratic, or maybe more ‘in time’ products that could have endured if they had had the chance.”
The early 1950s marked a period of great creativity for Kjærholm. Recently graduated and experimenting with new materials and production methods, he was keen to ride the zeitgeist of the time. Prodigiously talented, he outlined his design principles in the Danish design magazine Mobilia in 1955, including the PK23™ as one of four featured case studies.
With this chair, Kjærholm envisioned a collaboration with Fritz Hansen—then, as now, a leader in moulded plywood and bent steel. But the project was never realised. Very little of Kjærholm’s early work made it to production. By the mid-1950s, after partnering with furniture merchant Ejvind Kold Christensen, Kjærholm turned to meticulously calibrated steel furniture—ushering in the designs that brought him international acclaim.
Based on Kjærholm’s original drawings, the PK23™ was first produced as an exhibition piece for a 2006 retrospective at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. His wife, architect Hanne Kjærholm, collaborated with Fritz Hansen to translate the design into a one-off chair. To bring it into production today, Fritz Hansen worked closely with Kjærholm’s children, Thomas and Krestine, making small yet critical adjustments while remaining faithful to the original vision.
The PK23™ marries Fritz Hansen’s heritage of refinement and simplicity with a contemporary sensibility. An informal, low-slung lounge chair, it is both elegant and comfortable—well suited to modern ways of living. With the addition of front upholstery, it gains a softer expression and added comfort.
“I consider it a beautiful, slim, modern lounge chair—very much in tune with our times—that you can have at home as a freestanding piece. The airiness and simplicity, along with an accessible price and robust nature, also make it perfect for many environments beyond residential,” says Andresen.
For Kjærholm’s children, the PK23™ offers a new lens on their father’s work: a different design language than his best-known pieces, yet still deeply characteristic.
“The radical design—making a shell, cutting it in half and twisting it so that it holds you—is very much in the Poul Kjærholm idiom,” says Thomas Kjærholm. “The chair is like a sculpture. I have a very early drawing from behind where he drew a red circle—either the sun or the moon.”
The PK23™ marks a significant development in managing the legacy of Poul Kjærholm through the Kjærholm Collection, entrusted to Fritz Hansen by his family since 1982. “At Fritz Hansen, we’ve been protective of the Kjærholm legacy, keeping a clear boundary around the collection. Now, we’re starting to broaden that view—to show that he was a more multi-faceted designer than we’ve historically presented,” says Andresen.
Thomas Kjærholm echoes the sentiment: “We admire Fritz Hansen’s respect for the legacy and their love for the classic pieces—but also their interest in what else Poul Kjærholm did, bringing more of his work into the collection,” he says.
More design by Poul Kjaerholm:
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