Arne Jacobsen designed the Series 7 chair in 1955 for Fritz Hansen. The familiar model 3107 combines a shaped wooden shell with a slender metal base. Seat and back are formed together, producing a continuous surface that bends upward through a narrow centre. The wider upper back and flared seat give the outline a balanced, hourglass character.
Fritz Hansen describes the shell as nine layers of veneer molded under pressure. This laminated construction permits a thin section while retaining strength and flexibility. The edge reveals the shell’s small thickness, particularly where the seat curves downward at the front. Four steel legs spread beneath it, leaving the wooden body visually separate from its support.
The design extends the investigation of molded seating begun with Jacobsen’s Ant Chair. The broader back gives the Series 7 a different emphasis within the same family of ideas. Its few components also make changes of surface and colour highly visible: wood grain, paint or upholstery can alter its presence while the fundamental outline remains legible. The chair shows how an industrial process can sustain a precisely controlled organic form.
Eames Dinning Chairs
