At home with Domus - Elizabeth Heltoft
Elizabeth Heltoft is a Copenhagen-based photographer. In her home, a Domus Chair has moved through different roles over time — recently becoming an unexpectedly contested piece of daily family life.
Elizabeth Heltoft has been immersed in design for much of her life. Born and raised in Copenhagen and working as a photographer primarily in fashion and design, furniture is part of her world. So when she first encountered the Domus Chair during a trip to Finland, it was both familiar and new. “It reminded me a lot of the chairs I grew up with in Denmark. Not the most famous Arne Jacobsen ones, but something more domestic, the kind that would have featured in every Danish home in the 1950s or 1960s. It was from the same tradition, but somehow there was a distinct Finnishness about it that made it different.”
Elizabeth lives with her family in central Copenhagen, on the cusp of the neighbourhoods of Vesterbro and Frederiksberg, on a small street lined with shops and cafés. Her home is layered and informal, and she is clear in her preference for objects chosen for both their function and their beauty. “I like things to be used. We live in a home, not an exhibition space. The story comes from how these objects are used, and how they fit around your life.”
The Domus Chair is a clear case in point. Designed in 1946 by Ilmari Tapiovaara for student housing, it soon found its way into private homes and public spaces all around the world. This evolution of roles has been repeated in Elizabeth’s home. Twenty years ago, she was making regular visits to Helsinki, where her husband was working at the time. During these trips, she frequented the Artek store, gradually acquiring pieces that made their way back to Copenhagen. Among them was a black-stained birch Domus Chair.
“It seemed a humble chair to me — designed to be used, moved around and lived with. The design is simple, but also elegant. It fits anywhere.”
And fit anywhere it has. For many years, the chair moved between functions, serving as a home office chair and a seat at the dining table, shifting easily between work and everyday family life. As her two daughters grew up to become teenagers, the Domus Chair’s role in the home took an unexpected turn – and became more sought after than ever.
“My daughters fight over it!” Elizabeth says with a laugh. The short armrests allow it to be pulled close to a table, bringing the sitter closer to the surface — and a mirror. “It turns out that it is the perfect chair for putting on make-up.”
Twenty years after it first appeared in Elizabeth’s home, the Domus Chair continues to move through the home, shaped by the changing needs of the family; from work to dining, and now to the private rituals of her daughters’ daily lives. “You can tell it has lived for a while – but that’s the way I like it.”
“Simplicity.”