St Catherine
Teak Bench

Furniture

1935

St Catherine Teak Bench

The simplicity and stringency of the St Catherine Teak Bench connects it simultaneously to the Danish furniture tradition and a new functionalist expression.

YEAR:

1935

DESIGN:

Arne Jacobsen

In 1935, Arne Jacobsen designed a garden bench for merchant Helge Wandel in connection with his design of the family’s home north of Copenhagen. In spring 2023, the bench was launched by Sika Design under the name St Catherine Teak Bench.

Originally, just a single bench was produced, which stood in the Wandel family’s garden, but after Arne Jacobsen’s death, additional benches were produced. Today, they are in use at St. Catherine’s College in Oxford, placed in the garden areas and featuring the names of former professors. Arne Jacobsen designed the gardens around the Oxford college, and thus, the bench is named ‘St Catherine’ in homage to his great passion for botany and garden design.

Photo: Sika Design

St Catherine Teak Bench
Manufactured by

Sika Design

The villa in Gentofte north of Copenhagen, that Arne Jacobsen designed for Helge Wandel and his family in 1935. Photo: The Royal Danish Library - Danish National Art Library.

At this early stage of his career, Arne Jacobsen’s furniture designs showed the clear influence of his teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, architect Kaare Klint, whose design approach was defined by simplicity of form, excellent materials and outstanding craftsmanship.

In 1929, Arne Jacobsen had established his own architecture firm, and during the 1930s, he designed and built more than fifty homes for private clients, mostly north of Copenhagen. The house he designed for merchant Helge Wandel was built in 1935. That same year, he also designed a set of outdoor furniture for the family consisting of the St Catherine Teak Bench, another design for a garden bench and a table.

Today, Arne Jacobsen is often associated with his industrially produced furniture in plywood and steel from the post-war era. However, at this early stage of his career, Arne Jacobsen’s furniture designs showed the clear influence of his teacher at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, architect Kaare Klint, whose design approach was defined by simplicity of form, excellent materials and outstanding craftsmanship. These features are evident in the St Catherine Teak Bench, which simultaneously shows early indications of the stringency of modernist functionalism. Today, Sika Design produces the bench in certified teak, a hardwood that enables the furniture to stand up to the impact of wind and weather.

Arne Jacobsen's drawing of the bench dated 1935. Photo: The Royal Danish Library - Danish National Art Library.

With a lifelong passion for botany and garden design, Arne Jacobsen often designed the grounds and gardens around the buildings he created, from private homes to large public projects. In the early 1960s, he completed his first major project abroad, St. Catherine’s College in Oxford, which included the design of the college grounds. Today, the St Catherine Teak Bench is part of the impressive college complex where Arne Jacobsen created a unity of architecture, nature and design.

Sources: Arne Jacobsen Design Archives. / Arne Jacobsen’s drawings. The collection of architectural drawings, The Royal Library – Danish Art Library. / Thau, C., & Vindum, K. (1998). Arne Jacobsen. Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press.

The gardens at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. Photo: Jonas Bjerre Poulsen / Norm Architects.

The gardens at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, where the benches are placed today, featuring the names of former professors. Photo: Jonas Bjerre Poulsen / Norm Architects.