Danish designer Peter Hvidt was trained as an architect and as cabinetmaker at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen. He exhibited regularly at the Cabinetmaker’s Guild exhibitions, as a designer and as an exhibition architect, and also taught at the School of Arts and Crafts from 1942-45. Hvidt completed part of his most inconic work with Orla Mølgaard-Nielsen, the duo worked together from 1944 to 1975 in 1950 he and Mølgaard-Nielsen designed the “AX” chair which became the major icon of their career.
Inspired by the designs of Charles and Ray Eames, the “AX” chair was the first Danish chair with a seat and back made of double curved laminated wood. The chair was produced by Fritz Hansen and was built using Hansen’s process for laminate gluing, which was in turn acquired from a technique used to make tennis rackets. This process helped to open up a more diverse and wider market for Danish furniture that made the country a leader in modern design. This design also opened up an exciting new arena of exportation possibilities because it took into account the elements necessary to make the chair more transportable.

seat and back could be removed and packaged separately, basically dismantling the entire chair for easy shipping. The “AX” chair was built in several different variations, with and without armrests and with reversible leather upholstery instead of the wood seat. It was also accompanied by the “AX” table and was exhibited in 1951 as part of the “Good Design” show sponsored by the MoMA. Hvidt designed for further companies such as Ludwig Pontoppidan, Søborg Møbelfabrik and France & Søn. It is from his time with these repuatable manufacturing compaines that his best work came to fruition, this makes Peter Hvidt a formidable force within the Mid Century Danish Designers