IOI Coffee Table

Design is an unceasing continuum, believes this Danish house, now owned by a second generation. Owner and creative director Jacob Gubi Olsen inherited the helm from his parents Gubi and Lisbeth Larson, who founded the business to showcase their postmodern furniture. Under Jacob’s watch, Gubi added a global focus to its roots in Copenhagen, with a cosmopolitan array of furniture, lighting and interior objects.

Alongside 20th Century icons such as Robert Dudley Best and Greta Magnusson-Grossman, the design house has championed a new wave of design studios including GamFratesi, Space Copenhagen and OeO Studio. “I started out with two very strong designs, Bestlite—a Bauhaus collection designed in 1930—and Gubi Chair, designed in 2003. I felt they had something in common,” says Jacobs. “Iconic appearance, functional design, high quality, aesthetic design language and adaptable for many different kinds of interiors. I took these values as a guideline for any new designs added to the collection ever since.”