Preben Fabricius and Jorge Kastholm, Tulip chairs for Walter Knoll

PREBEN FABRICIUS (Denmark, 1931- 1984) and JØRGEN KASTHOLM (Denmark, 1931-2007).
A pair of Tulip lounge chairs, designed in 1964.
Upholstery in cognac leather, with a swivel 3-star base in aluminum.
Chairs are with minor marks.
Produced by Walter Knoll.
Measurements: 103 x 70 x 68 cm, seat high 45.

Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm's Tulip armchairs are iconic design pieces from the mid-20th century, representative of modern Nordic aesthetics with hints of industrial functionalism. They have a clean, curved shape, with organic lines vaguely reminiscent of a petal or tulip, hence the name. The appearance is elegant, sober and very modern for its time.

Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm were a Danish duo who stood out in the 1960s for their focus on functional, minimalist design, combining the clarity of Scandinavian design with German industrial rigor. Their Tulip chair (FK6725 and variants) is one of their most celebrated works.

Danish architect and designer Jørgen Kastholm attended the Copenhagen School of Interior Design, where he was taught by Finn Juhl. It was also there that he met cabinetmaker Preben Fabricius, who would later become his partner. The two shared a common vision of furniture design, based on minimalism and quality and inspired by the creations of Charles Eames and Mies van der Rohe. Their quest was to achieve an ideal that, by its simplicity, would be timeless. In 1961 they set up a studio together in Gentofte, and four years later they presented their first designs at the Federicia furniture fair, where they attracted the attention of the German furniture manufacturer Alfred Kill. The latter offered them a lucrative contract that allowed them to work freely, so Kastholm and Fabricius moved to Stuttgart with their first designs to start production in Kill's factory. Shortly thereafter, they made the international breakthrough at the 1966 Cologne trade fair, where they exhibited a complete series of home and office furniture, developed from ten of their original designs. Their minimalist creations, at once attractive and comfortable, were generally steel and leather furniture. The two creators worked together between 1961 and 1968, a seven-year period in which they produced numerous designs now considered classics, such as the Tulip Chair FK 6725, the Grasshopper FK 87 or the Scimitar. Also during this period, their furniture was part of important international exhibitions, held in such prominent centers as the MOMA in New York (1967) or the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris (1967). Today, designs by Kastholm and Fabricius can be seen at the MACBA in Barcelona, the MOMA in New York, the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris, the Ringling Museum in Florida, the Art Museum of Brasilia, the Design Center in Stuttgart, the Haus Industriform in Essen, the Neue Sammlung in Munich, the Staatsgemäldesammlung Bayer in Munich, the Kunstindustrimuseum in Berlin, the Kunststofmuseum in Düsseldorf, the World Import Mart Museum and the History + Folkways Museum in Japan and the Museum für Angewandte Kunstgeschichte in Cologne.