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POUL KJÆRHOLM: TIMELESS MINIMALISM

HAPPENINGText: Alma Reyes

Apart from chairs, there are also tables, cabinets, and stools on show. The Academy Cabinet (1955) comes in black-oxidized steel frame and Oregon pine carcass with nine drawers. It is a perfect sample of refined geometric lucidity, detailed with only the handcut dove-tailed joints and steel handles. Again, Kjærholm craftily infuses natural wood with industrial materials, and emphasizes the clarity of a transparent structure, for which he has been named the “furniture architect.”


Poul Kjærholm, Academy Cabinet, 1955, Oda Collection, Photo: Yukinori Otsuka

Kjærholm defined his working methods as follows: “Physical function, this means that the attitude when sitting must be correct and that the chair must be strong enough. Choice of material and tool involves certain structural limits… The chair must have natural shape in keeping with the material and the tools used for it, so that it is constructively evident. The chair must excite an aesthetical pleasure.” (Poul Kjærholm: Timeless Minimalism catalog, p. 178)

In the final room, visitors can experience actually sitting on some selected chairs while being surrounded by George Rouault’s paintings from the museum collection.

Poul Kjærholm: Timeless Minimalism
Date: June 29th – September 16th, 2024
Hours: 10:00 – 18:00 (Open until 20:00 on Fridays of August 2nd, September 6th, 13th and 14th)
*Time reservations are required on weekends and national holidays.
Closed on Wednesdays (Except for September 11th) and during August 13th – 16th
Place: Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Address: 4F, Panasonic Tokyo Shiodome Bldg, 1-5-1 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Tel: +81 (0)50 5541 8600
https://panasonic.co.jp/ew/museum/en/

Text: Alma Reyes
Photos: Yukinori Otsuka, Courtesy of Oda Collection (Higashikawa)

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