Jens Risom

Born in Copenhagen, Jens Risom studied furniture design and worked in the design department of Sweden’s largest department store, Nordiska Kompaniet, before immigrating to the United States in 1939. Risom became acquainted with Hans Knoll while working for an interior designer and joined Knoll in 1941 to design furniture and oversee fabrication, mainly for commissions by architects and private clients. Determined to expand his business, Knoll assembled Risom’s designs as a featured collection in the company’s first catalog, published in 1942. The product line exhibited the company’s design direction: wood furnishings in a modern idiom. Wartime material shortages did not constrain Risom’s... more.