The Story Behind the Louisiana Museum’s New Outdoor Furniture

The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art sits within a gently sloping estate overlooking the Øresund, the narrow strait separating Denmark from Sweden. Visitors wander among Henry Moore bronzes poised against the sea, Alexander Calder mobiles that sway above waterfront terraces, and Alicja Kwade’s bronze spheres that resemble giant marbles strewn across the grass. After exploring the galleries, visitors often settle into the museum’s café for seasonal Nordic fare. For 16 years, they did so in the Ice chair, which Danish designer Kasper Salto conceived for Fritz Hansen around 2003. Distinguished by structural ribs radiating from a central spine, the chair employed advanced industrial materials and an ambitious engineering approach that captured an era of technological optimism at Fritz Hansen. 

Over time, however, Salto began to view the Ice chair as a product of another era. Its highly engineered construction appeared too technical for Louisiana’s coastal setting, so he envisioned furniture that would recede into the museum instead. “I didn’t want the chair competing with the Calder sculptures or the architecture,” he says, echoing an instinct that has long guided his career. Since founding Copenhagen studio Salto & Sigsgaard with architect Thomas Sigsgaard in 2004, he has completed projects for some of Denmark’s most celebrated cultural institutions, as well as the 2013 restoration of the Finn Juhl Chamber at the United Nations. There, the studio developed new furnishings that respected Juhl’s landmark 1952 interior while adapting it for contemporary use. The Louisiana Museum presented a similar opportunity. 

Those convictions gave rise to the Vind Series, a collection of outdoor furniture that Salto designed specifically for the museum after asking a simple question: Why didn’t it have an outdoor chair? Named after the Danish word for “wind,” the collection nods to the sailboats that drift across the Øresund and the brisk coastal air that sweeps through the museum grounds. Folded aluminum details echo the way sails wrap around a mast, while the woven seat lends softness to the chair’s otherwise clean profile. The collection also reflects Salto’s philosophy of placing greater value on longevity and straightforward construction than technical complexity. “I often compare this process to designing an airplane, where the engineering decisions ultimately produce the aesthetic,” he says. “If you’re honest about function, the beauty follows naturally.”  

Unlike the Ice chair, which required years of engineering to achieve its exacting construction, Vind favors simplicity. “It’s much simpler to manufacture and easier to understand visually,” says the designer, who studied the museum’s buildings and admired how they settle into the landscape, allowing museumgoers to experience the art more freely. “I thought the chair should take exactly the same approach.” Each frame is crafted from 100 percent powder-coated aluminum, selected for its light weight and ability to meet demanding hospitality standards, such as withstanding scratches without rusting. A double-curved backrest, carried over from the Ice series, allows comfortable sitting in multiple positions. The collection includes an armchair, side chair, and dining table, each available in forest green and misty gray shades. 

Beneath Vind’s spare silhouette lies an extraordinary amount of craftsmanship. Salto originally envisioned the chair with reclaimed sailcloth stretched across a tubular frame before exploring replaceable textiles. That idea eventually gave way to the woven seat, which better served the chair’s long-term durability. Each uses nearly 500 feet of solution-dyed polyester cord, which artisans weave by hand over four hours before securing it beneath the frame with concealed steel rods. The four-by-four weave recalls longstanding Danish handicraft traditions while introducing a softer surface that complements the chair’s robust aluminum construction. The process also carries personal resonance for Salto, whose mother worked as a weaver. 

Vind also represents a milestone in Salto’s nearly three-decade collaboration with Fritz Hansen, a company he once described as “every designer’s dream.” While studying industrial design at the Royal Danish Academy, he closely followed the work of Arne Jacobsen and Poul Kjærholm, hoping one day to contribute to the same lineage. Today, his colleagues recognize those same qualities within his own work. “Kasper has always been able to translate new materials and manufacturing methods into products with lasting relevance,” says Christian Andersen, Fritz Hansen’s director of craft and heritage. “That consistency is one of his strengths.” 

Salto, for his part, views Vind as the culmination of decades spent scrupulously refining his philosophy. “I think it’s the most mature product I’ve designed,” he says, already imagining the collection expanding to include benches and other pieces. For Salto, however, success has little to do with whether visitors notice the chair; he hopes they notice everything else instead. “It’s made to serve people well, like a good host that doesn’t draw attention to itself.”