Paying tribute to a pioneering designer
Fondly known as the “grande dame of Danish Design”, Nanna Ditzel (1923–2005) is considered one of the most influential Danish designers of the 20th century, whose style never stopped evolving throughout her more than 60-year career.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of Ditzel’s birth, Fredericia pays tribute to this pioneering woman and our former main designer, honouring her collected oeuvre and showing a remarkable world citizen. A woman who challenged the comme il faut of design and succeeded in leaving an enduring dash of poetic lightness and artistic innovation in the Danish design tradition.
“ When I begin work on a new chair, everything is possible; everything is allowed. It’s a challenge. ”
Nanna Ditzel, 1994
A designer breaking the rules
Nanna Ditzel has deservedly positioned herself in the history of design due to her many striking and innovative designs across centuries and disciplines. Being a generation after legendary architects and designers like Børge Mogensen and Hans J. Wegner, Ditzel also studied under the master architect and designer Kaare Klint at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts after graduating as a cabinetmaker and while studying as a furniture architect at the School of Arts and Craft.
Nanna Ditzel Design
A leading female figure in the history of Danish design, Nanna Ditzel was not only strikingly ambitious but progressive and forward-looking for her time. Highly occupied with our ways of sitting, she believed comfortable furniture paved the way for new ways of thinking and living.
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Taking design to new heights
In September 2023, Trapholt – Museum of Modern Art and Design will open the most extensive exhibition on Nanna Ditzel ever staged. This spring, a sneak peek of the exhibition is showcased at Fredericia’s Copenhagen Showroom.
Conversation
Learn more about Nanna Ditzel through conversations with the people who knew her, worked with her and studied her from afar.
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Keep exploring
We mark what would have been Nanna Ditzel's 100-year birthday with a series of stories about the woman herself and the life around her. Dive into our universe of Nanna Ditzel stories.
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