Bankers
Bankers
Objects
1970
Bankers
Originally designed for National Bank of Denmark
Bankers
Arne Jacobsen designed Bankers as part of the elaborate interior design he created for the National Bank of Denmark.
YEAR:
1970
WORK OF ARCHITECTURE:
National Bank of Denmark
DESIGN:
Arne Jacobsen
The former banking hall at the Nationalbank of Denmark. Photo: Dissing+Weitling.
The Bankers clock is Arne Jacobsens last clock design and the most conceptual of the clock faces he created over a span of five decades. Arne Jacobsen designed Bankers in 1970 for the National Bank of Denmark (1971) and the clock echoes the building’s strict, minimalist aesthetic.
While the National Bank of Denmark outwardly appears as a simple, self-sufficient and monolithic structure, inwardly, it unfolds large, open spaces, meticulously designed into every last detail. Arne Jacobsen designed Bankers as part of the building’s elaborate interior design, where every sophisticated detail was created with the larger whole in mind. Bankers soon became available as an ordinary retail product, and ever since, it has served as an elegant feature in modern home interiors.
Today, the Bankers clock, manufactured by Rosendahl, features Arne Jacobsen’s name in his original typeface on the clock face. Photo: Rosendahl.
The National Bank of Denmark. Photo: Dissing+Weitling.
Arne Jacobsen designed Bankers in 1971 for Danmarks Nationalbank, the Danish national bank, and the clock echoes the building’s strict, minimalist aesthetic.
In his design of the Bankers clock face, Arne Jacobsen took a conceptual approach and came up with a system in which time is not decoded by means of numerals or simple marks. The twelve hours are instead indicated by twelve squares, one of which is filled out in black. The result is a general movement spiralling out from the centre. Arne Jacobsen designed the original clock with a very thin frame, a concave crystal and a bracket that creates a gap between the wall and the clock, lending the timepiece a light, floating expression.
Sources: Arne Jacobsen Design Archives. / Stenum Poulsen, K., Skaarup Larsen, A., & Staunsager, S. (2020). Arne Jacobsen – Designing Denmark. Kolding: Trapholt. / Thau, C., & Vindum, K. (1998). Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press.
The Bankers clock in the National Bank of Denmark. Photo: Yukio Yoshimura.
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