The History of Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel
At the age of 17, Nanna Ditzel already knew that she wanted to be a furniture architect.
She grew up in a middle-class, liberal-minded family in Copenhagen. Although her parents initially had more traditional ambitions for their daughter's education and career, they chose to support her wholeheartedly when they saw the seriousness of her desire.
Nanna was a thoughtful and strong-willed young lady. When she knew what she wanted to do, she went about it with determination, and she was very aware of the importance of being professional whilst at the same time maintaining the freedom to develop. She wrote in her diary in May 1943:
"It's lovely to feel solid ground is gradually forming under my feet. Now it’s just a matter of making sure it doesn’t become so firmly solid that you can’t shake it off. I am now fully determined and convinced that through calm and steady work, I can become a good furniture designer. But at the same time, I want to make sure I become a person of substance..."
Nanna got her way. She trained as a carpenter and then entered the School of Arts and Crafts' furniture program, where she also met her future husband and creative partner Jørgen Ditzel. They married in 1946 and the future looked bright. The war was over, they had both graduated and the Danes were looking for a more modern life, which included a more modern way of decorating. Nanna and Jørgen set up their own studio and participated in exhibitions and competitions organized by housing associations and furniture manufacturers. They designed both furniture and textiles, and their projects often gained attention and won awards. It was also during this period that Nanna got to know and understand the creative work process. She wrote in her diary in November 1946:
"I now understand that if you are to make a career for yourself as a designer, you cannot simply do so in spare moments grabbed now and then. Anything that can be created in this way will only be variants of pre-existing things, which is especially unnecessary now that the new materials call for a completely new approach. If anything is to come to fruition, if you want to see independent development, you have to come to terms with the fact that at no point can you put a lid on everything and call it a day."
When, later in life, Nanna's eldest daughter Dennie asked Nanna how she knew when something was finished, she replied that it was when it looked like it had always been there.
Nanna and Jørgen continued their fruitful partnership throughout the 1950s, and it was also during this time that their three daughters were born: Dennie in 1950 and the twins Lulu and Vita in 1954. These additions to the family meant that the couple's designs were now even more influenced by their own needs. When the couple were living in their first small apartment, they designed small furniture that didn't take up too much space, and now they needed children's furniture that they could grow with, children's beds and high chairs.
But it was also during this period that they experimented with new materials such as wicker and foam. They designed and exhibited their first experimental stairscape ‘The Rubber Cell’, where they argued that we think better and have freer conversations when we "sit and lie down". Around this time, they also started designing jewellery and in 1954 Georg Jensen took on the production of their jewellery designs. They established a productive collaboration with Kolds Savværk in Kerteminde. At the same time, they were frequent participants in competitions and exhibitions, and every year they participated in the Copenhagen Carpenters' Guild's furniture exhibitions - which later became known as the Carpenters' Autumn Exhibition.
Things went very well for the ambitious young couple, and in June 1956, a happy and busy Nanna wrote in her diary:
"Our life is rich, almost overflowing, although we try to limit ourselves. It is as if all of life's pleasures and duties come at once."
But with three small children, it was also difficult to find time for the peace, freedom and quiet that Nanna valued so much and that was a fundamental prerequisite for her creative work. They considered hiring some employees, but were also worried about compromising their high ambitions and "making low quality" products. Instead, they continued their constructive way of working, collaborating on all projects, and when one hit a wall, the other took over and together they found the right solution.
They hired help at home for childcare, cleaning, etc., and this gave them the necessary peace of mind to concentrate on the creative work and their many tasks.
In January 1958, Nanna wrote in her diary of their working environment:
"We are so happy with the new studio. There is peace, space and the right interior design. We get more work done than we have been able to for a long time and we are both equally reluctant to go to the city or spend our time anywhere else but here."
The fifties were by all means a busy, positive and rewarding decade for Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel. They had become established and recognised designers in furniture, jewellery, textiles and decorative arts. They were noticed because they thought new and different thoughts and they dared to bring their ideas to life. But this ended abruptly when Jørgen died of cancer a few days before his 40th birthday in the spring of 1961. Nanna was left alone with a growing studio and three little girls - a situation that would have flattened many people. But Nanna felt both a desire and a duty to continue the work they had begun together.
The close collaboration with Jørgen had been crucial for Nanna.
"Their collaboration was based on sensory intuition and concrete knowledge, which formed a symbiosis becoming a driving force behind their thinking while at the same time stimulating them to come up with ideas that challenged the other. According to Nanna Ditzel, collaboration was absolutely essential to the creative process." Sara Staunsager in “Nanna Ditzel - Envisioning the future”
After Jørgen's death, Nanna missed her close collaborator, but she sought new relationships and made good sparring partners and friends among the producers she worked with. At the same time, she became part of the circle around Mobilia - a magazine that marketed Danish design abroad - and here she was in good company with Verner Panton, Gunnar Aagaard Andersen, Poul Henningsen, Gunnar Bratvold and Percy von Halling-Koch - all people who lived at full speed and shared the desire and courage to challenge conventional thinking. Here Nanna found both good friends and plenty of inspiration to continue her creative work.
In the 60s, she continued to work on the idea that people think and converse better when they can sit and lie down - and move in the three dimensions of space. This resulted in The Mountain Plateau at The Cabinetmakers Guild Exhibition (1962), The Sun Trap (1962), The Playpen in Forum (1963), the interior design of the children's library in Lyngby (1968) and finally the foam furniture Vilette (1966), which formed the framework for Nanna's private homes for many years to come.
In addition, Nanna had a close collaboration and friendship with Poul Kold and together they developed a range of children's furniture, including the Trisse furniture, which is still in production and has found a place in many Danish homes. The Hallingdal upholstery fabric was launched in 1965, many new pieces of jewellery saw the light of day, and Nanna had exhibitions both at home and abroad.
Despite the new and difficult circumstances, where Nanna was left alone with the responsibility for the design studio and three children, she was immensely creative and productive. How was this possible? It was because Nanna was who she was. She possessed a rare willpower and a unique drive. Problems were there to be solved. She didn't give up and she was always thinking ahead. She couldn't stop drawing and inventing. She had a great desire for freedom and creative power, and she experienced a huge joy in creating. She didn't distinguish between work and private life, they were two integral parts, and creativity and the joy of creating tied this all together. She was also very good at delegating the tasks she didn't find interesting, and all of this combined allowed her to work the way she wanted.
In the late 60s, Nanna Ditzel met her second husband Kurt Heide. He was a businessman with a modern furniture shop in London, where he sold some of Nanna's designs. It was easier to move a design studio than a shop, so Nanna took the plunge and moved to London.
After a few years, Kurt Heide sold his furniture store and together they set up the showroom Interspace. Nanna decorated the large showroom with her own designs and the bright colours of the time, and she made room for her design studio at one end of the building. Kurt sold both Nanna's furniture and selected Italian furniture to the contract market, while also renting out furniture for movies, etc. The business went well and many parties and receptions were held at Interspace. Nanna and Kurt enjoyed the vibrant London life with concerts, theatre and cultural friends. But it was harder for Nanna to make it as a designer in London. There was very little modern furniture in London at the time, the English population, in general, didn't care about interior design and British furniture manufacturers were reluctant to commit to designs they weren't sure would sell. However, Nanna established a good collaboration with several British textile weaving mills, including Kilkenny in Ireland and Firth Furnishing in Yorkshire, and this resulted in a whole range of colourful textiles inspired by the swinging London of the 70s. In addition, Nanna continued to collaborate with Danish manufacturers, and for that reason it was not difficult for her to return to Denmark after Kurt Heide's death in 1985. Like the textiles, Nanna's designs from the 70s show an obvious influence from London life with colours, shapes and patterns. Examples of this include the colourful fiberglass furniture developed in collaboration with Oddense Maskinfabrik, and the wicker furniture with the intricate patterns made in collaboration with Fennkong.
In 1987, Nanna set up a studio, workshop and home in a blue townhouse in the centre of Copenhagen, and a new era began for the now 64-year-old designer. She still had plenty of ideas that needed to be realised. She enjoyed being back in Copenhagen and she quickly found her way back into the Danish design world. One of the first tasks she took on was the interior design of the new IC3 trains, which she dressed in Hallingdal in a brand-new colour scheme.
This was followed by many years where Nanna really unfolded her playfulness and tried out new techniques and materials. The Bench for Two, which is a beautiful sculpture in itself, was the start of a long and fruitful collaboration with Fredericia Furniture. Together they developed the Trinidad chair, which became a possibility because a CNC milling machine had arrived in Denmark, enabling the creation of the fine grooves that let the light shine through and create shadows on the floor.
Together with PP furniture, she pushed the folding possibilities of veneer to the limit with the Seashell Chair, which was exhibited at the Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition in 1996.
Nanna loved spending time at her summer house in Dronningmølle. Here she found both peace and freedom to develop her creative urge - and plenty of opportunity to be inspired by the nature she loved so much. This is also evident in many of her latest designs, which lead our thoughts towards the sea, butterflies, seashells and flying lightness - think of the Wave Chair, the Butterfly Chair, the Icon Chair, the City Bench, the Assisi and Pisa textiles and the Surf and Grates jewellery series. Common to these is also the feminine trait of soft and round shapes that characterises many of Nanna's designs.
The last era of Nanna's working life, back in Copenhagen, was very positive. She thrived on having new ideas and she turned them into reality. She developed new collaborations, had solo exhibitions and often participated in the Cabinetmakers' Autumn Exhibition. She did exactly what she wanted to do, and for this she received both awards and recognition.
Nanna often said that life should be as wonderful as possible, and she made sure it was. She loved her life and her work, and for her, creating and developing new ideas was the very essence.
In her opening speech for the Trapholt exhibition ‘Nanna Ditzel - Design to new heights’, Louise Campbell described Nanna's qualities in the most beautiful way:
"Nanna Ditzel had a craft, but was first and foremost a designer. Possibly the very best we have ever had, if we adjust the classic criteria a little and look at the designer's most important task, which is to meet every new challenge with equal parts of critical interest, diligence, drive, perseverance and sense, especially sense. For people. For materials, shapes and colours. For situations. For where the boundaries are and where the boundaries can be pushed."
Since Nanna Ditzel's death in 2005, her three daughters have taken over her life's work. Together with Thomas Graversen from Fredericia Furniture, they form the company's board of directors. Until 2023, the day-to-day management was handled by Dennie Ditzel, but now, after a generational shift, Nanna's granddaughter Camilla Ditzel and Henriette Noermark have taken over.