Poul Kjærholm, 1929 to 1980, is the Danish designer who made steel feel warm.
He trained as a cabinetmaker, and it shows in everything he made afterwards. Where most of his Danish contemporaries stayed with wood, Kjærholm chose steel as his primary material, then spent his career proving it belonged in a living room rather than an office. He paired it with leather, cane, wood and marble, and treated the steel itself as a material to be worked with the same care.
His designs carry PK numbers. The PK22 lounge chair and the PK24 chaise are the best known, and the series runs across seating, tables and daybeds. They share a particular discipline: no more frame than the piece needs, joints left visible, and proportions worked to the millimetre.
He taught at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, and his work is held in major design collections. Original period examples are increasingly hard to find outside specialist dealers.
In our showroom
We currently have the PK11 armchair, Kjærholm's three legged design of 1957, with a steel frame, a lacquered ash arm and a leather seat.
Kjærholm pieces come through us occasionally rather than regularly, so the selection changes. If you are looking for a particular PK design, our sourcing service can look for it through our network of dealers.
Shown at Assembly Vintage, Warehouse 9, 24A Street, Al Quoz, Dubai. Open 11am to 7pm, seven days.
