Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. But if we’re going to talk about chairs for hotels, one of the first that will probably come to mind is the Egg Chair. Designed in the 1950s by Arne Jacobsen for the lobby and reception areas of the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark, this chair has become a design icon.
Believed to have been influenced by Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair, the Egg Chair weighs just 13 kilograms and was originally available in leather, but later Jacobsen permitted renditions in cloth to lower its price. It was introduced to the public at an exhibition in Paris, France, in 1958, and then in Denmark in January 1959.
As mentioned earlier, the Royal Hotel in Denmark was the location for which Jacobsen designed the Egg – as well as his Swan chair creation – they were positioned in the hotel’s busy lobby. They have the distinction of being among the first upholstered chairs with the ability to swivel. Ensconced in the Egg Chair, a hotel guest had the option of turning to or away from other areas of the room, depending on the level of his or her desired privacy. The chair’s tilt mechanism also allows the user to lean back and relax, and with its high back and curving lines, sitting in it feels like being cradled in a cocoon. Today’s Egg Chairs are manufactured exclusively by Danish company Fritz Hansen under license. They create the chairs by padding the synthetic shell with cold foam before covering it with fabric or leather. The Egg Chair’s star-shaped base is made from aluminum.
From the 1950s to the present day there has emerged many other reception area seating options, but the classic Egg Chair – and some of its reinterpretations – remain popular both in Europe and the United States.
