'Design for sound by Jacob Jensen' Exhibition (1978)
For over 75 years, Bang & Olufsen has been setting standards in the application of technology through innovative design - beginning in 1925 with Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen's invention of the world's first radio with a mains plug, to today's integrated audio and television entertainment systems.
The company seeks to unite form and function through design, by developing products that combine sophisticated technology with ingenuity and aesthetic appeal. Meticulous attention is paid to design, sound clarity, vision delivery and technological proficiency for intuitive ease of operation. The unique Beolink® system enables seamless, integrated access to B&O products - in the home, workplace, hotel or studio. In essence, the design of any B&O product makes choice and operation rewarding for the senses.
Appreciated as art forms, B&O's 'original classics' have received many design awards and appear in design collections of museums around the world, including the permanent design collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). This recognition symbolises the company's ability to integrate both design and technology, together with their commitment to innovation and the delivery of excellence in the entertainment experience.
In 1972 New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) chose seven Bang & Olufsen products designed by Jacob Jensen to be included in their Design Collection as representing excellent examples of the Museum's criteria for quality and historical importance; design, in fact, which had influenced the twentieth century: Beolit 1000, Beomaster 1200, Beomaster 3000 were among those seven products.
'Design for sound by Jacob Jensen' Exhibition (1978)
Many of Jacob Jensen’s design for Bang & Olufsen are included in the Design Collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art . As one of the few industrial designers in the world, Jacob Jensen was chosen in 1978 by MoMA for a solo exhibition: 'Design for Sound by Jacob Jensen'. The exhibition included 28 audio products. The exhibition was an exceptional gesture of recognition both for B&O and Jacob Jensen for at that time, the museum had only twice before arranged solo exhibitions of single companies’ products (an Olivetti exhibition in the thirties and a Braun exhibition in the sixties).
His relationship with B&O resulted in a classic form language and a series of products, which alone - as the New York Times concluded in its review of the exhibition at MoMA "are enough to earn him major rank among the 20th century’s industrial designers".
Bang and Olufsen products have been exhibited around the world. In 1972, eight selected B&O products were displayed at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.
And then between 14 April and 18 June 1978, the Museum had a special exhibition consisting of 39 Bang and Olufsen products. 'Design for Sound' was the first exhibition to show an entire range of the most significant products during Bang and Olufsen's first 50 years.
In the 1978 exhibition it was Jacob Jensen whose work was particularly featured; up till the late 1980s Jensen was Chief Designer in charge of the design of most of Bang & Olufsen's main products.
The 'logo' chosen to represent the exhibition was the Beogram 4002/4004 - which today many still regard as Jensen's best work for B&O
Created: 24th January 2007
Modified: 2nd April 2007
