Designer · Denmark · 1920–1982
Jo Hammerborg
Jo Hammerborg (1920–1982) – Danish silversmith and lighting designer, chief designer at Fog & Mørup for over two decades, creator of the Nova lamp.
Life Lamp, Jo Hammerborg, Denmark, 1970s
About the designer
- Lifetime
- 1920–1982
- Country
- Denmark
- Manufacturers
- Fog & Mørup
Johannes “Jo” Hammerborg was born in February 1920 in Randers. He trained as a silversmith, then studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. During the German occupation of Denmark, he was active in the resistance. From 1949, he worked as a silversmith at Georg Jensen for about eight years.
At the end of the 1950s, he became chief designer and head of the design department at Fog & Mørup; he led it until 1980, after which he founded his own lighting company. His 1963 Nova lamp received first prize at CICi in 1965, and in 1969 four of his lamps – Classic, Tunika, Saturn and Diskos – won iF awards. The Orient lamp is now reissued by Fritz Hansen.
Hammerborg was also a pioneer of Danish parachuting and aviation. He died in a parachuting accident in 1982, aged 62.
Key designs
-
Nova
Pendant lamp; first CICi prize in 1965.
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Classic, Tunika, Saturn, Diskos
Lamps awarded iF prizes in 1969.
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Orient
Lamp reissued by Fritz Hansen.
