Jacob Jensen

Jacob Jensen - born 1926 in Copenhagen, Denmark - Is a well established name in the field of industrial design.

Jacob Jensen is the son of an upholsterer, Alfred Jensen, and his wife Olga Jensen. He grew up in the rough environment of the Vesterbro area, left school after the seventh grade, completed his training as an upholsterer in 1946, and wenton the road for some months, as was the custom for newly trained artisans. His father established his own furniture workshop in 1947 in Gartnergade, Copenhagen where Jacob joined him. Here he developed, furniture including, a sofa bed and began to design chairs. He was discovered by chance and was encouraged to attend the School of Arts and Craft.

He was accepted at the Copenhagen School of Arts and Craft in the furniture division in 1948 as the onlyupholsterer among 11 furniture makers, one of which was Poul Kjærholm. The school was a breeding ground for the many furniture designers, which have made Danish furniture world famous. The international breakthrough of Danish Design occurred during the very years that Jacob Jensen attended the school. The training was based on the design methods of Kaare Klint and was taught by people such as
Hans J. Wegner and Jørn Utzon. Utzon initiated a course in abrand new subject called ”Industrial Design”, which Jacob Jensen inspiredly joined and finishedas the only student. Jacob Jensen graduated from the School of Arts and Craft in 1952.

The first industrial design studio in Scandinavia

In 1952 there was only one studio in Scandinavia, which employed industrial designers. This wasBernadotte & Bjørn in Copenhagen, with Sigvard Bernadotte, son of the Swedish King, as one ofthe partners. Jacob Jensen worked here from 1952 to 1958, as studio chief from 1954. Here helearned about the growing market from the bottom up. According to Bernadotte, it was JacobJensen who in 1955 designed the company’s most successful product, the Margrethe bowl,which is still in production.

In 1956, Jacob Jensen went to the USA to work for a number of leading studios. The contactswere established by Bernadotte and included, the design star Raymond Loewy in New Yorkand the design strategy studio Latham, Tyler & Jensen (LTJ) in Chicago. During his time inChicago, Jacob Jensen was particularly inspired by Richard Latham. Latham thought in terms ofsurvival strategies, incorporating both the market oriented American tradition and the idealisticBauhaus inspired tradition. In 1960, Jacob became a partner in LTJ and managed the company’sEuropean interests until 1975.

Jacob Jensen Design

In 1958, Jacob Jensen opened his own design studio in Strandgade in Copenhagen. Soon after, JacobJensen Design moved to the suburb Frederiksberg with a staff of 8. This development involvedmore management than design, which did not suit Jacob Jensen’s taste. He reduced the staff totwo and moved further outside the city to the village of Jyllinge. During this period, JacobJensen completed an extensive design concept for General Electric, which pointed towards Hi-Fisystemsof the future. [General Electric] chose not to use the design, which later became the basisof B&O’s form language and strategy.

HejlskovIn 1966, Jacob Jensen Design moved to its present location, Hejlskov on the Limfjord. The houseis a modern fortress, built by Jacob Hermann, one of Jacob Jensen’s former teachers at theSchool of Arts and Craft. It is situated in a beautiful and isolated landscape on the edge of thefjord. Joining Jacob Jensen are his American wife Patricia and their three children, Thomas, Katjaand Timothy.

Bang & Olufsen

The move to Hejlskov was partly related to Jacob Jensen’s new client, B&O in Struer, 50kilometres from Hejlskov. The relationship began in 1964 and continued in various forms until1991. During this period, Jacob Jensen designed over 200 products for B&O, creating theexclusive form language, which has provided the company with its international status andsurvival niche.

The Museum of Modern Art

Jacob Jensen’s design is exhibited in a number of art and design museums around the world. Themost significant of the international exhibitions is the solo exhibition at MoMA in New York in1978: “Bang & Olufsen – Design for Sound by Jacob Jensen”. The exhibition comprised 28 audioproducts. Both before and after the exhibition, MoMA purchased Jacob Jensen designs for itspermanent collection, and today owns 19 pieces

Other Products

Jacob Jensen is primarily known for his Bang & Olufsen audio designs, but as an industrial designer he hasdesigned more than 500 products for various clients. Among these are hearing aidsfor GN Danavox, Hi-Fi for General Electric, office chairs for Labofa, telephones for Alcatel-Kirk,cable reels for JoJo, wind turbines for Vestas, kitchen hardware for Gaggenau Haugeräte,along with watches, telephones, weather stations and more under the brand name JACOBJENSEN.

Awards

Jacob Jensen Design has received around 70 design awards all over the world, including the USA,Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria, and England. In Denmark, Jacob Jensen has received the ID-awardnine times, has been awarded the Knights Cross of the Order of Dannebrog, and is included inthe Foreign Ministry’s list of “Great Danes”.

The Mediterranean

In 1981, Jacob Jensen realised his old dream of sailing. Together with his second wife Hanne and their two children, Troels and Toke, they sailed through the canals of Europe to the Mediterranean where the family eventually settled on Majorca. For some time the studio was run from Majorca with assistants in Hejlskov.Jacob Jensen still spends the winter abroad with his third wife, Nanna, while the sailing is done in Denmark during the summer.

Generational change

In 1990, Timothy Jacob Jensen, the youngest son of Jacob’s first marriage, took over thecompany. Timothy was apprenticed to his father from 1978 to 1981 and is now the owner,director and chief designer. With Timothy at the helm, the studio continues to be anexceptionally sought after and highly awarded enterprise. Furthermore, Timothy has developedan international product line under the brand name JACOB JENSEN. The JACOB JENSEN housetoday includes the companies; JACOB JENSEN HOLDING, JACOB JENSEN DESIGN and JACOBJENSEN BRAND. Jacob Jensen is still an active designer in the studio