CH162 & CH163 Sofas 🇩🇰 Carl Hansen

CH162 / 163 Sofa Carl Hansen & Søn Hans Wegner, 1965

Browsing through the vast archives of Hans J. Wegner, Carl Hansen & Son found a sofa designed by Wegner for the modern living room in 1965. Its simple design gives pride of place to vertical and horizontal lines, softened by cushions adapted to the living room. orientation of the frame, for comfortable seating. Carl Hansen & Son is once again launching this sofa on the market and offering a new series consisting of the two- and three-seater versions, respectively CH162 and CH163 Sofas.

"This series of sofas was originally known as the 'Down Cushion Sets'. At the time, feather-filled cushions were a real innovation. Wegner chose this type of seat to obtain a soft and welcoming appearance – a style that broke with the practices of the time, the upholstery of the cushions being usually firm. It is this unconventional approach to furniture that makes Wegner so unique. We are proud to produce its furniture and to make its treasures known to as many people as possible, which have lost none of their relevance,” says Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son.

The rectangular legs of the sofa widen forward, as they approach the armrests, until they merge into a triangular shape. In the middle of this triangle, a wooden dowel is the most emblematic detail of the piece of furniture. But that's not all: it also houses a screw that makes it very easy to change the trim. This innovative approach, which consists in giving a unique appearance to the necessary and functional elements, is particularly characteristic of Wegner.

Just look at the sofa from the side to see that instead of following the vertical line of the back of the sofa, the interior trim tilts forward down to the side rail, breaking with ease the rigor of the lines.

The sofas are offered in oak and walnut, with several finishes. Textiles are available in a wide range of colors and fabrics.

Dimensions CH162 137 x 80 x H78 cm CH163 195 x 80 x H78 cm
Seat height 41 cm Armrests height 68 cm
Frame solid wood Wood oak or walnut
Seat / cushion CMHR fireproof foam

CH162 Oak
from

CH162 Walnut
from

CH163 Oak
from

CH163 Walnut
from

Leather Thor 301 / oiled walnut

Leather Thor 301 / oiled oak

Fabric Canvas 794 (price group 1) / oiled oak

Fabric Hallingdal 694 (price group 3) / soaped oak

Fabric Remix 443 (price group 1) / oiled oak

Fabric Remix 123 (price group 1) / white oiled oak

Leather Thor 301 / oiled walnut

▸ wood & finishes

▸ fabrics & leathers

Hans J. Wegner

Hans J. Wegner was born in 1914 in Tønder, Denmark, the son of a shoemaker. At the age of 17, he finished his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker with H. F. Stahlberg, in whose workshops Wegner’s first design experiments took form. He moved to Copenhagen as a 20 year-old, and attended the School of Arts and Crafts from 1936 – 1938 before he began working as an architect.

As a young architect, Wegner joined Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller in Århus, working on furniture design for the new Århus city hall in 1940. It was during the same year that Wegner began collaborating with master cabinetmaker, Johannes Hansen, who was a driving force in bringing new furniture design to the Danish public.

The Copenhagen Museum of Art and Industry acquired its first Wegner chair in 1942.

Wegner started his own design office in 1943. It was in 1944 that he designed the first “Chinese chair” in a series of new chairs that were inspired by portraits of Danish merchants sitting in Ming chairs. One of these chairs, the “Wishbone Chair”, designed in 1949 and produced by Carl Hansen & Son in Odense since 1950, became the most successful of all Wegner chairs.

Among Danish furniture designers, Hans J. Wegner is considered one of the most creative and productive. He has received practically every major recognition given to designers, including the Lunning prize, the grand prix of the Milan Triennale, Sweden’s Prince Eugen medal and the Danish Eckersberg medal. Wegner is an honorary Royal designer for industry of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Almost all of the world’s major design museums – from The Museum of Modern Art in New York to Die Neue Sammlung in Munich – include his furniture in their collections.

Hans J. Wegner died in Denmark in January, 2007.

Hans J. Wegner’s contribution to Danish Modern:

- First a cabinetmaker, then a designer: integrates exacting joinery techniques and exquisite form.

- A deep respect for wood and its characteristics – and an abiding curiosity about other natural materials

- Brings an organic, natural softness to formalistic minimalism

- Generally regarded as ”the master of the chair”, with more than 400 chair designs to his name

CH162 / CH163 sofas – Carl Hansen