Because it’s the brand’s second all-timber chair. The first one was designed by Arne Jacobsen about 61 years ago!
24 April 2018
Text by Narelle Yabuka
In Milan this year, Oki Sato of Nendo, an acclaimed Tokyo based studio, launched the N01 (to mark the first of perhaps many collaborations) with Fritz Hansen. This product – a chair – reveals Sato’s sheer design stamina with its ambitious mission. It’s the first piece to be produced in all timber since Arne Jacobsen’s Grand Prix (1957), and its construction is a sophisticated feat in joinery.
On presenting his concept to Fritz Hansen, it was revealed just how important and symbolic the N01 would be. “The last all-timber chair was Arne Jacobsen’s!” exclaims Sato. “Lucky I was told after the presentation because before that I would have been putting a lot of pressure on myself!” As the project slowly came together through much backing and forthing, the N01 emerged. “It was one of the toughest projects for me in my 15-year career, but it was one of the most exciting,” he says.
Simple, elegant and finely detailed, the N01 chair is all about the joining of timber and the smooth curve of nine layers of veneer. Its puzzle-like joinery includes 23 parts that are hand assembled at the Fritz Hansen workshop.
In Singapore, Fritz Hansen is available at W. Atelier.
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