Unlike the more upright dining chair, the Penguin Lounge Chair is deep and low, with a capacious seat and enfolding flipper-like projections that provide a high level of comfort. The addition of fabric upholstery enhances the design, providing a sumptuous seat to sink into. Ib Kofod-Larsen’s iconic mid-century design features the designer’s characteristic awareness of proportion and quality artisanship, utilising curved plywood to create the eye-catching seat shell.
In its day, the Penguin was one of Denmark’s best-selling exports to the United States and is now produced by Audo Copenhagen who has introduced the chair to a new audience of design enthusiasts. This version with an upholstered seat makes the perfect addition to any living space.
Ib Kofod-Larsen, born in 1921, was a Danish born architect and furniture designer. Graduating from the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, he opened his own studio in 1948. Kofod-Larsen's prolific body of work has enshrined him alongside other mid-century masters like Kaare Klint, Hans J. Wegner, and Borge Mogensen.
Kofod-Larsen's lifetime work demonstrates simplicity of line coupled with the use of comfortable materials, whilst he worked particularly closely with his craftsman in order to ensure the quality of every product he designed. Many of his designs became particularly sought-after during the 1950's and 60's, again becoming popular in more recent years due to the upsurge in demand for high quality Scandinavian modernist furniture.
Discover more about the story of the iconic re-issued Knitting Chair in our design journal.
