Erik Magnussen

 Erik Magnussen was born in Copenhagen in 1940. As a newly graduated ceramicist in the sixties, he started working for the then highly esteemed Copenhagen porcelain industry. Before long, he broke from tradition and created modern services with few multi-functional parts to avoid repeating the mistakes of the earlier multi-functional services.

He later applied this idea to the tabletop and furniture industries and went on to design the thermos for Stelton and the stackable chair, CHAIRIK®, for Engelbrechts. Both products are typical examples of how Erik Magnussen wipes the slate clean each time he begins on a new project and starts from scratch with the sole goal of improvement.

The thermos opens and closes automatically when tilted and consists of only a few parts that click together. The Chairik chair is an archetypal example of simplicity: with a two-dimensional, easily manufactured shell, Erik Magnussen achieves a high level of comfort and design.

The aesthetic, financial and social aspects of his designs, as well as their overriding feel-good factor, all come together in Erik Magnussen’s vision, enabling him to design almost anything, although he prefers products that closely interact with the body: cutlery, cups, chairs, etc.

Today, Erik Magnussen's designs are exhibited in museums all over the world. He has received numerous acknowledgements and awards for his work. He was the youngest person ever to receive the Lunning Prize in 1967 and has been elected "Honorary Royal Designer for Industry" by The Royal Society of Art in London.

Erik Magnussen has his own design studio based in Copenhagen.