Thomas E. Alken was born in Copenhagen in 1970. He graduated from the Danish Design School in 1997, also studied at the University of Art and Design in Helsinki, and in 1997 founded his studio, Format design, in Copenhagen. His practice covers furniture and product design as well as design advisory work, and he has taken part in every stage of the process, production included. For Matzform he designed the Dino collection. The Dino chair was first made for an exhibition at Thorvaldsens Museum in Copenhagen; interest from hotels, restaurants and private clients then brought it into production. Developed with Matzform in 2012, 2017 and 2019, the family now includes the dining chair, a lounge chair, a two-seater and a bar stool. Dino Dining is held in the collection of the Trapholt museum.