About
Kai Kristiansen & Friends
Was established in 2018 with the mission of relaunching more of Kai Kristiansen’s unique furniture designs.
Today, we offer a selected collection of great furniture classics designed by architect Kai Kristiansen. The furniture is produced in the highest possible quality by patinated craftsmen. All productions are approved and supervised by Kai Kristiansen himself, who is still active in design circles.
Under "vintage products" there's collected a catalogue of furniture designed by Kai Kristiansen that is not currently in production – these can often be found in vintage stores and on auctions.
About Kai Kristiansen
Designer Kai Kristiansen was born in 1929. He apprenticed in cabinetmaking before he in 1948 enrolled in the prestigious Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen under the highly influential designer Kaare Klint.
At the age of only 26, Kai Kristiansen opened his own studio and began to create furniture in what would soon become known as the Danish modern style. His designs would be produced by well-known Danish manufacturers, such as Feldballes Møbelfabrik, Fritz Hansen, Vildbjerg Møbelfabrik and Magnus Olesen etc.
Kai Kristiansen furniture is the result of a danish tradition where quality, craftsmanship and attention to detail are the core values. The result is beautiful furniture and timeless designs.
Sustainability
Sustainability in the essence of Kai Kristiansen work.
Kai Kristiansen’s designs is unique and timeless, his furniture is made with craftsmanship and in good quality. – This is why, furniture’s made over 50 years ago is still in use by proud owners or resold to furniture enthusiasts and collectors all over the world.
Kai Kristiansen’s designs is well known at auctions and well-established vintage shops. – This is Sustainability the “Kai-way”
Collaborating with the best artisans of the field.
All Kai Kristiansen furniture is manufactured by the highest standards of the industry by leading artisans around the world. This gives all of our furniture an extraordinary level of quality and comfort.
Since the first Kai Kristiansen designs was made, there has been many manufacturers producing the furniture.
Common for the manufacturers is that they have been willing to collaborate and be part of the product development of beautiful designs. The development have always been done in collaboration with Kai Kristiansen and only the best quality has been accepted.
From the first design, it was Kai Kristiansen who found and chose the manufacturers for the different projects.
Today, Kai Kristiansen is still active at the age of 93 and is pursuing the best possible quality and design.
Listed here is a number of manufacturers that produce and have been producing furniture for the icon Kai Kristiansen.
Miyazaki Chair Factory
Miyazaki Chair Factory is a dedicated chair factory focused on the best craftsmanship possible. Miyazaki Chair Factory is innovative and create products that are comfortable to use and become your favorit in everyday life, continues improving wooden chairs.
Today we are proud that Miyazaki Chair Factory is producing both #42, Paper Knife, UNI series and more of Kai Kristiansens well known models.
Miyazaki Chair Factory is combining design and technology, wooden chairs that are a result of creative and productive fusion between designers like Kai Kristiansen and craftsmen. These criteria are applied in the workshop-style design development laboratory where Kai Kristiansen and craftsmen from Miyazaki Chair Factory experiment together, as well as in the production process where precisely machined products are refined by delicate manual finishing. Examining the significance of each theme, the objective is to create wooden chairs that are ever better and more innovative.
Brdr. Petersen
Danish Brdr. Petersen was established in 1973 as a furniture maker by twin brothers Egon and Erling. Through changing times, Brdr. Petersen has retained the same ethos of honesty and commitment to quality that initially laid the foundation of the furniture workshop. Located in an old farmhouse in the Danish countryside, a small team of dedicated upholsterers and craftsmen manufacture a carefully chosen range of furniture by some of the greatest Danish designers like Ib Kofod-Larsen, Vilhelm Lauritzen and Kai Kristiansen to a select audience worldwide.
Brdr. Petersen has always shown a dedication to craftsmanship and upholstery work
Working with furniture designed by some of the greatest representatives of the proud Danish design heritage requires a high degree of respect. For the classics to be as relevant today as they were almost a century ago, the details and the simple principles involved in the original creation of the furniture have to be carried out exactly as intended, and with great care and craftsmanship. There is no room for compromise, and no room for rush. This is why we strive for excellence in every detail, and every single piece of furniture is made by hand with selective and authentic use of materials, carefully crafted to withstand a lifetime of use.
Magnus Olesen A/S
Magnus Olesen manufactures high quality furniture in cooperation with today´s leading designers. Magnus Olesen manufactured the 121 series (1956) which was designed by Kai Kristiansen. The 121 series (now known as Paper Knife and produced by Miyazaki Chair Factory) was one of the most successful designs, it was a break through for Magnus Olesen both on the home and export markets, and it helped Magnus Olesen A/S expand.
Magnus Oleson also manufactured the Univers series (1965), designed by Kai Kristiansen witch, according to Kai Kristiansen self, was the “absolutely best effort, design-wise” in Kai Kristiansen´s many years of collaboration with Magnus Oleson.
Feldballes Møbelfabrik
Located in Aarhus, Denmark, Feldballes Møbelfabrik specialized in the production of wooden furniture, storage, and display items.
During the 1950s and ‘60s, the renowned Danish designer Kai Kristiansen designed for Feldballes. Known as a major proponent for the Danish modern style, Kristiansen favoured well-joined teak and rosewood in many of his designs for Feldballes Møbelfabrik, which included desks , sideboards , chairs , and wall units . Kai Kristiansens most successful design was the FM Reolsystem Wall Unit (1957). This modular shelving unit, which came in a variety of add-on shapes and sizes, realized great success, not only in Scandinavia, but throughout the rest of Europe and in the United States. Other notable designs by Kristiansen include the FM 59 Desk (1950s) and No. 70 Desk (c. 1958). Although that Kai Kristiansen was not the only designer to work for Feldballes Møbelfabrik, he was the most well-known.
Fritz hansen
During the 1960´s and 1970’s Fritz Hansen produces some chairs from Kai Kristiansen. The most well known it the classic 4110 that today is produced under the name UNI Senior.
