Preben Fabricius & Jørgen Kastholm

Function and minimalism were watchwords for Danish designers Preben Fabricius (1931–1984) and Jørgen Kastholm (1931–2007). As a design duo, they created design-led furniture and lighting of international renown by merging their respective backgrounds as cabinetmaker and smith into a consummate whole. In just seven years, their shared design studio created a wide collection of minimalist and functionalist designs in wood, steel, leather and glass, gaining wide recognition and international acclaim.

Fabricius and Kastholm’s designs are characteristic of the Danish Modern era, which they helped epitomise. Their designs were functional and minimalist and embody fine details and quality materials. The designers mastered the creation of an honest design that beautifully highlights what other designers often seek to hide. They were inspired by luminaries of Danish design such as Hans J. Wegner and Arne Jacobsen and by designers of international renown such as Charles and Ray Eames and Mies van der Rohe. During the drawing process, Fabricius and Kastholm would exchange drawings across the table until it was no longer possible to say who had drawn what, but the result was a joint, distinctive effort.

Preben Fabricius became a qualified cabinetmaker under master joiner Niels Vodder, and Jørgen Kastholm trained as a smith at his father’s company. They first met at the Danish School of Interior Design (now the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design and Conservation) in the 1950s, after they had both decided to continue their studies. Preben Fabricius studied under Finn Juhl and got a job at Ole Hagen’s design studio in 1957, where he renewed his acquaintance with Jørgen Kastholm a few years later.

In his youth, Jørgen Kastholm had spent time in the US, which marked the beginning of a career of international vision with multiple stays abroad. Kastholm then continued his studies at Den Grafiske Højskole (now the Danish School of Media and Journalism), while working for Arne Jacobsen at the same time. Jacobsen was a profound source of inspiration for Kastholm in his subsequent career as a furniture designer. In 1959, Jørgen Kastholm moved to Beirut, Lebanon, to work in a design studio, where he was involved in designing SAS lounges and palaces for the king of Saudi Arabia, after which he returned to Denmark and worked at Ole Hagen’s design studio.

It was their reunion at the design studio that prompted Fabricius and Kastholm to become aware of their shared passion for sophisticated design focused on functionality and minimalism. This was also why they founded a design studio in their own name in 1961. In the early years they focused on wood, but later included steel and leather in their designs, drawing on Kastholm’s metalworking background.

They parted ways in 1968, after which Preben Fabricius set up his own design studio, designing furniture for the German furniture manufacturer Walter Knoll, among others. In 1978, Fabricius became a teacher at the School of Interior Design, his former place of study, where he remained until his death in 1984. Jørgen Kastholm also established a design studio in his own name, where he continued to design furniture for major furniture manufacturers. At the same time, he also worked as an editor and writer.

Kastholm moved to Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1971, where he opened his own design studio, designing furniture for major international furniture manufacturers until his death in 2007. In addition to that, Jørgen Kastholm was a professor at the University of Wuppertal (BUW) in the field of furniture design and product development from 1975 to 1996.

The designs of Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm are currently exhibited in museums and design centres all over the world, including the MoMA in New York and the Louvre in Paris. They have been lauded with multiple design awards and recognitions – jointly and individually – including Germany’s first ‘Die Gute Form’ award in 1969, the Illum Prize in the same year and a Red Dot Award in 1995.