Danish designer behind Modo 290 chair dies at 90

Danish furniture architect and designer Steen Østergaard, creator of the Modo 290 chair, has died aged 90, DR reports.

His family announced his death in a press release, according to TV 2.

Østergaard’s interest in new materials such as plastic, fibreglass and acrylic led to what Jyllands-Posten described as the world’s first one-piece injection-moulded chair, in 1966. The futuristic Modo 290 series became known internationally and appeared in James Bond, Star Trek and A Hologram for the King. The chair was also used at NASA’s centre in Houston, Texas, and at San Quentin prison in the United States.

Østergaard worked for the renowned furniture architect Finn Juhl, whose approach influenced him. In an interview with Aarhus Municipality’s online senior magazine Vital, Østergaard said Juhl taught him that furniture should be comfortable and functional as well as visually appealing.

He told the magazine he returned to work after his wife, with whom he had two children, died following a long illness with Alzheimer’s disease. During the final eight years of his life, he lived at Næshøj nursing home in Harlev, west of Aarhus, where he shared a workshop with other pensioners.