In 1948, the Museum of Modern Art hosted a design competition for chairs that should be ready for industrial production and retailed at low prices. This was not exactly Finn Juhl’s area of expertise as he had become famous for his incredibly elegant and detailed handcrafted furniture. Nevertheless, Finn Juhl decided to submit his entry. This decision may have been based on the fact that Finn Juhl had met and established what turned out to be a lifelong friendship with Edgar Kaufmann Jr., who, at the time, was the director of the Industrial Design Department at MoMA. It was also Edgar Kaufmann Jr. who introduced Finn Juhl to the American design industry.

The result of Finn Juhl’s entry for the competition, was a beautiful and sculptural armchair in polyamide. Unfortunately, Finn Juhl did not win the competition. The winner, however, was Charles and Ray Eames with their famous plastic chair, which has since been produced by the millions.