City Hall
wall clocks – alarm clocks – watches
Arne Jacobsen, 1956

Arne Jacobsen was born on February 11, 1902 in Copenhagen. His father, Johan Jacobsen, was a wholesale trader in safety pins and snaps. His mother, Pouline Jacobsen, a bank clerk, enjoys painting flowers in her spare time. The family lives in a typically Victorian house, with very elaborate decoration. As a reaction, young Arne paints his whole room white.

He meets the Lassen brothers at the boarding school of Nærum. Flemming Lassen would become his partner in a series of architectural projects. Arne is a restless student, always ready to play pranks, making fun of himself. From his childhood, he showed an extraordinary talent for drawing and liked to represent nature in a very realistic way. He wants to be a painter, but his father thinks that the architect is a better choice (history will thank him for it).

He begins to travel at the age of 20 with a boat trip to New York. Then Germany to learn masonry, and Italy to observe architecture. He produced some of his most beautiful watercolors there, rendering atmospheres and materials with delight. Curiosity for foreign countries will be a constant in his career, without abandoning Denmark and its traditions.

Jacobsen's personality is reflected in his production: sharp modernist, tireless perfectionist, but also nature lover and jovial family man: like him, his work is precise and warm, Danish and universal, modern and timeless.