Mogens Lassen

Mogens Lassen (1901-1987) was a Danish architect belonging to the current of functionalist Modernism, also appreciated for his activity as a designer. A shy figure far from the spotlight, Lassen was born into a family of artists and cultivated a passion for architecture from an early age. His brother Flemming Lassen will also have an important career as an architect; however, the two brothers maintained independent trajectories. His style was made above all of sharp angles and decisive geometries and was greatly influenced by the thought of Le Corbusier, whom he had the opportunity to know personally during a youthful period spent in Paris without however having the opportunity to work with him due to his limited knowledge of the French language. Lassens trained in several important Danish architectural firms, in particular that of Tyge Hvass where he remained from 1925 to 1933 before starting his own business in 1935. As an architect he worked mainly in the residential sector, designing buildings and apartments, but also remembered for having curated the installations of Den Permanente for decades, the Copenhagen trade fair that played a key role in the process of spreading Danish-style furniture throughout the world. Lassen also designed various furnishings and objects, among which his Kubus candle holder was particularly popular. In more recent years most of his creations were reissued by the By Lassen brand, founded in 2008 by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren in order to preserve their legacy and then merged into the Audo Copenhagen cllections. One of his most famous pieces, the Egyptian Table, is instead re-proposed by Carl Hansen & Søn.