Hvidt & Molgaard

Hvidt & Mølgaard was an important Danish design studio founded by Peter Hvidt (1916-1986) and Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen (1907-1993), protagonists of some great successes that between the Second World War and the 1960s contributed decisively to the industrial development of Danish design and its success in the world. Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, the older of the two, had been a student of the great Kaare Klint at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and had learned from him the principles of anthropometry and ergonomics that would later influence all his work. He then worked for some years in various architectural studios, including that of Arne Jacobsen, before joining forces in 1944 with the younger Peter Hvidt, who had graduated a few years earlier. The collaboration between the two soon proved fruitful: already in 1944 the studio created the Portex armchair, considered one of the first stackable armchairs of Danish design, immediately much appreciated by the market. The great success came a few years later with the series of AX seats (1947-50), produced at the time by Fritz Hansen, which received numerous awards all over the world (both at the “Good Design Awards” promoted by the MoMA in 1951 and at the IX and X Triennale di Milano, respectively in 1951 and 1954) and considered one of the great bestsellers of Danish design of the 1950s. In addition to Fritz Hansen, they also worked a lot with brands such as France & Søn and Søborg Møbelfabrik, while today all their most famous creations have been re-edited exclusively by the brand &tradition. From the 1960s onwards they concentrated mainly on architectural projects, realising large residential complexes, factories, office buildings and iconic bridges such as the Vejlefjordbroen (1975-80). From 1975 onwards the two founders began to abandon the activity but the studio Hvidt & Mølgaard continued to exist until 2009, led by a new generation of architects including Hans Kristensen (1933-), who had joined the studio in 1970, Henrik Hvidt (1945-), Peter’s son, and Peter Holsøe (1943-).