Jens Risom

Risom was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 8 May 1916. His father was a prominent architect, Sven Risom, a member of the school of Nordic Classicism. Risom was trained as a designer at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts and Design (Kunsthåndværkerskolen), where he studied under Ole Wanscher and Kaare Klint. He was classmates with Hans Wegner and Børge Mogensen.

Risom spent two years at Niels Brock Copenhagen Business College, before beginning work as a furniture developer and interior designer with the architectural firm of Ernst Kuhn. He later relocated to Stockholm, taking a job with a small architectural firm. From there he joined the design department of Nordiska Kompaniet where he was introduced to Alvar Aalto and Bruno Mathsson.

In 1939, Risom traveled to New York City to study American design. He found it difficult to find work as a furniture designer in New York, however, and was forced to accept a number of textile designs that ultimately secured him freelance work with designer Dan Cooper. This led to his work being included in the Collier’s “House of Ideas” designed by Edward Durell Stone and constructed in front of Rockefeller Center during the 1939 New York World’s Fair.