After a fun and interesting first day in Copenhagen on invitation of Carl Hansen & Son, read all about that in my previous post: Two days in Copenhagen with Carl Hansen & Son. We left Copenhagen early morning to drive to the island of Funen where in Gelsted the headquarter of Carl Hansen & Son is located.  Here we were welcomed to see the highlights of the production process, the craftsmanship, materials, and visit the apprentice lab.

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know I love to see the production behind the design. Being the first group ever aloud to visit the different sections at the headquarter and see the making  of Carl Hansen & Son furniture up close was a great opportunity and experience.

For privacy reasons we could not photograph the employers, which made following and documenting the step-by-step process of making the chair difficult. Nevertheless you can see the short videos I made during our visit here on Instagram and in my Carl Hansen & Son Pinterest album

 

Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen

 

 

CH24 Wishbone Chair

We followed the making of the CH24 or Wishbone chair, which is the very first model Hans J. Wegner designed exclusively for Carl Hansen & Søn over 70 years ago. The chair is in production since 1950. More than 100 steps are required to manufacture each Wishbone Chair, most of which are carried out by hand. The hand-woven seat alone takes a skilled craftsman about an hour to create, using approximately 120 meters of paper cord, the impressive durability and stability of which make the chair both strong and long-lasting.

The Wishbone Chair offers comfort and stability as well as satisfying aesthetic desires for a distinctive, elegant form. Over time, the Wishbone Chair has gained recognition as the ideal chair, capturing the essence of modern Danish design. In the video below you see a glimpse of the process we were able to follow step by step during our visit.

 

 

Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen

The chair is available in several varieties of wood and covers, the chair above, part of a series of limited edition chairs with brown leather cover, I thought was really special

Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen

Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen

Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen

At the apprentice lab we could experience the different woodworking operations, as someone who love  DIY I got a lesson of sawing dovetails, no need to tell it was hard doing this perfect even after a few attempts. I really have so much respect for the carpenters and their craftsmanship who make the most beautiful furniture here every day. The best thing about visiting factories like this is always to see how much passion each employee has for perfectly executing every step that leads to the final design that we see in stores. Carl Hansen & Son definitely was no exception and I loved watching every detail.

 

 

This blogpost is written in collaboration with Carl Hansen & Son
Images ©vosgesparis – video and first picture by Carl Hansen & Son

Het bericht Visiting Carl Hansen & Søn HQ in Gelsted Funen verscheen eerst op vosgesparis.

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