Fritz Hansen Via 57 Chair

Founded in 1872, Fritz Hansen originated with a forward-thinking family of Danish cabinetmakers who revolutionized the Scandinavian furniture industry, producing some of the world’s most revered design classics in the process.

Through creative partnerships with visionary designers and architects such as Arne Jacobsen, Hans J. Wegner and Poul Kjærholm, Fritz Hansen developed a culture characterized by the love of good craftsmanship coupled with a desire to make the most of modern industrial production methods in the manufacturing and distribution of good design.

Today Fritz Hansen is part of a small, exclusive array of global luxury furniture makers. From the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen to the North Carolina Museum of Art, to fine homes all over the world, Fritz Hansen is known for products of unmatched quality and world-class design.

Bjarke Ingels, who is known for his innovative architecture and KiBiSi, which is known for its idea-driven approach, took Danish design abroad, reinventing the American skyscraper and presenting the VIA57 chair in New York. The partnership between BIG, KiBiSi and Republic of Fritz Hansen is a unique example of architecture and design going hand in hand, as it did in Arne Jacobsen’s work in the 1960s.

KiBiSi merges the faculties of its founding partners into a symbiotic hybrid of design, architecture and ideation. Founded in Copenhagen by Lars Larsen, Bjarke Ingels and Jens Martin Skibsted, each partner contributes intelligence and experience from within his specific field. KiBiSi's DNA incorporates cutting-edge knowledge and know-how within the fields of architecture, design, furniture, electronics, transportation, contemporary culture and lifestyle. KiBiSi’s work is present in many major museum collections, including the MoMA in New York, Paris’s Centre National d’Arts Plastique and SFMoMA.