Yellow Space Age Modo 290 Chair by Steen Østergaard for Nielaus

Danish architect and industrial designer Steen Østergaard was decades ahead of his time with his futuristic Space Age designs. Through his innovative chairs, tables and other furniture, Østergaard elevated Scandinavian modern design during the mid-20th century.

Born in 1935, Østergaard studied furniture design and architecture at the School of Arts and Crafts in Copenhagen in 1957, graduating with honors in 1960. That same year, he won first prize in furniture design at the Danish Upholstery Guild’s annual awards, presented at Copenhagen’s Designmuseum Danmark.

From 1962 to 1965, Østergaard worked in the studio of revered furniture designer and architect Finn Juhl before establishing his own firm. Østergaard’s watershed moment came in 1968 when he created the iconic Cado 290 chair. Later produced in 1970 by Danish designer Poul Cadovius’s Cado company, the chair — a brilliant one-piece work of polyamide nylon reinforced with fiberglass by way of injection-molding — features an elegant form inspired by the stackable seats created by Danish designer Verner Panton, who started experimenting with the concept of single-piece plastic chairs in the late 1950s. However, unlike the revolutionary Panton chair, Østergaard’s design includes optional cushions that can be affixed directly onto the chair’s frame.

Another of Østergaard’s exemplary seating pieces is the President Meteor lounge chair designed in 1968 as part of Cado’s A-Line collection. The indoor and outdoor chair was originally produced in six colors — beige, brown, green, white, red and blue — and incorporates a molded plastic frame with a deep, upholstered seat. The lounge chair appeared in the original Star Trek television series and film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and was used at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Østergaard is also known for furnishings such as his molded plastic dining room chairs, patio and garden furniture and ergonomic club chairs. In 1981, he designed and constructed the first Action Recliner chair, which included a built-in footrest, a piece now replicated around the world.

Østergaard’s furniture has been featured in exhibitions throughout Europe and the United States, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Deutsches Museum in Munich and Designmuseum Danmark.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of vintage Steen Østergaard chairs and other furniture.