Celebrating Vilhelm Lauritzen’s interest in butterflies, the VLA61 Monarch Chair is a majestic piece of interior design, featuring curved and double-curved elements. The chair features an architect’s eye for form and function, with an artistic expression that is both light and luxurious at the same time. Lauritzen has imbued the design with his signature attention to detail, with brass feet and meticulously hand-polished joints.
Recreated from Lauritzen’s initial sketches, hand drawings, and old photographs by the exceptionally talented artisans at Carl Hansen & Son and the partners at Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, the chair honours the designer’s original intent while remaining contemporary through striking materiality. Requiring the greatest care and attention, the chair stands as a testament to the skill of the carpenters and upholsterers working at Carl Hansen & Son.
Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894–1984) was one of the most significant architects in the history of Denmark; he was the trail-blazing figurehead of Danish functionalism. A number of his buildings – Nørrebro Theatre, Daells Varehus department store, Radiohuset and the first airport built in Kastrup – represented the concentrated essence of contemporary life. Other significant buildings to stem from Lauritzen’s drawing board include Folkets Hus better known today as the Vega concert venue, the Shellhuset building and the Danish embassy in Washington.
Throughout his life, Vilhelm Lauritzen adhered to the principle that architecture is applied art – with equal emphasis on both ‘art’ and ‘applied’. “No life without aesthetics” was another one of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s firmly held beliefs.
