Nanna Ditzel Design A/S is a Copenhagen based design company and studio taking care of and continuing the lifework of Nanna and Jørgen Ditzel.
Nanna and Jørgen were born respectively in 1923 and 1921. They met each other in the autumn 1943 at The School of Arts and Crafts, Copenhagen, where both were students.
In the summer of 1946, when Nanna and Jorgen had finished their studies at the art school, the two new graduate furniture architects married. Later the same year they established their own design studio in Copenhagen.
By that time, they already had worked together for a couple of years making designs and participating in exhibitions together.
The period from 1946 to 1961, when Jørgen passed away at the age of only 40 years, was very productive for the young couple, designing in a wide range of disciplines – furniture, textiles, wallpaper, jewellery and utility objects such as glass, etc. In this period they took part in and won several competitions, in 1956 they were awarded the Lunning Prize.
After Jørgen’s death in 1961, Nanna continued their joint project alone; it was the way she thought it should be – it was the only way: continuing. Many new things were designed in the subsequent years.
In 1968 Nanna married furniture dealer Kurt Heide who was resident in London. In August 1968 Nanna moved herself and the design studio to North London, where Nanna and Kurt jointly established the company Interspace, which quickly became internationally recognised. From the big showroom Kurt Heide dealt in Italian furniture and the furniture and textiles created by Nanna. Notable among Nanna’s designs from this period are some exciting experiments with furniture made of fibreglass.
Despite the fact that the address for the next 18 years was London NW Nanna continued working with several Danish companies, inter alia, Georg Jensen, Kvadrat and Brdr. Krüger, who remained permanent partners throughout all the years. In addition, newly established collaborations with English furniture manufacturers and with several textile companies in England, Scotland and Ireland.
In 1985 Kurt Heide died. The previous year, Nanna and Kurt had sold Interspace. After a brief period of reflection Nanna chose to return to Denmark. The retirement she and Kurt had planned to begin was exchanged for a newly established design studio in Copenhagen and for a further 20 years of working life - an era filled with new experiments and exciting designs.
In 1995, Nanna employed her eldest daughter a few hours a week at the design studio. Nanna was 72 years old and wished to prepare her three daughters to continue the company. After Nanna’s death in 2005, Dennie, the eldest daughter, took over daily management.
Dennie’s younger sisters, Lulu and Vita, Nanna’s twin daughters, are on the board together with CCO of Fredericia Furniture, Thomas Graversen.
Lines may no longer be drawn in Nanna Ditzel’s design studio but we continue the legacy and manage the existing work.
Nanna Ditzel Design A/S, der er beliggende på Østerbro i København, er en designvirksomhed, hvis primære opgave er at tage vare på og levendeholde det livsværk Nanna og Jørgen Ditzel har efterladt sig.
Nanna og Jørgen blev født i henholdsvis 1923 og 1921. I efteråret 1943 mødte de hinanden på Kunsthåndværkerskolen, hvor de begge var elever.
I sommeren 1946, da både Nanna og Jørgen havde taget afgang fra Kunsthåndværkerskolen, giftede de to nyuddannede møbelarkitekter sig, og hen på efteråret etablerede de formelt egen tegnestue.
De havde dog allerede et par år arbejdet sammen om såvel udformning af designs som deltagelse i udstillinger med projekter lavet i fællesskab.
I perioden 1946 - 1961, hvor Jørgen døde i en alder af kun 40 år, var meget produktiv for det unge par, det bliver til designs indenfor et bredt spekter af produkter: møbler, tekstiler, tapeter, smykker og brugsting som fx glas. I denne periode tog de del i og vandt adskillige konkurrencer, i 1956 blev de tildelt Lunning Prisen.
Nanna fortsætter deres fælles projekt alene efter Jørgens død, for hende var det den eneste vej frem, og nye designs indenfor alle områder ser da også dagens lys i de kommende år.
I 1968 gifter Nanna sig igen, denne gang med møbelforhandler Kurt Heide, der var bosiddende I London. I august 1968 flytter Nanna sin tegnestue til det nordlige London, hvor Nanna og Kurt i fællesskab etablerer virksomheden Interspace, der hurtigt bliver international anerkendt. Fra det store showroom forhandledes italienske møbler, samt naturligvis de møbler og tekstiler Nanna skabte. Blandt Nannas designs fra denne periode er bl.a. et spændende eksperiment med glasfibermøbler.
På trods af at adressen de kommende 18 år hed London NW, fortsatte Nanna samarbejdet med flere danske virksomheder bl.a. Georg Jensen, Kvadrat og Brdr. Krüger forblev faste samarbejdspartnere gennem alle årene. Hertil kom så nyetablerede samarbejder med engelske møbelproducenter og specielt samarbejdet med adskillige tekstilvirksomheder i både England, Skotland og Irland.
I 1985 døde Kurt Heide, Interspace havde Nanna og Kurt solgt året forinden. Efter en kort tænkepause valgte Nanna at flytte tilbage til Danmark. Det pensionistliv, som hun og Kurt egentlig havde planlagt at påbegynde, blev byttet ud med en nyetableret tegnestue i København og endnu knap 20 års arbejdsliv – en epoke fyldt med nye eksperimenter og spændende designs.
I 1995 ansætter Nanna sin ældste datter nogle timer om ugen på tegnestuen, Nanna var 72 år og ville ruste sine tre piger til at kunne videreføre virksomheden. Efter Nannas død i 2005 overtager Dennie, den ældste datter, den daglige ledelse. Lulu og Vita, Nannas fire år yngre tvillinger, sidder sammen med CCO Thomas Graversen, Fredericia Furniture, i virksomhedens bestyrelse.
Der bliver ikke slået flere streger i Nanna Ditzel Design, men taget vare på det eksisterende værk.
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