coparrcrares

Style and simplicity: Design classics i in the world of chairs never go out of fashion

Edith Saatkamp

DESIGN OF THE TIMES

RECENTLY I saw a woman emerge from the North Vancouver flea market. She had the Cheshire cat smile ‘on her face and a Thonet

chair tucked under her arm.

This simple chair is a design classic that you may recognize as ‘the humble-looking seat in your kitchen. But did you know that Telstoy wrote his novels on it and that Lenin sat on it while plotting © the Russian Revolution?

. Thonet chairs

- We find classics in clothing, in ‘literature, music and film. They

» may go out of fashion for a while, but eventually they return and are

admired as if they were brand new inventions.

Classics tend to have something in common: style and simplicity.

Michael ‘Thonet’s famous “Vienna cafe chair” made its debut in 1859 and has bee mass-pro- duced since 1874.

I is made of beechwood which is steam-heated until it becomes pli- able and can be bent into shape. it was probably the first piece of fur- niture that was sold as a “knock- down” item.

Made of six pieces of wood, a seat and 12 screws, it could be shipped anywhere anc assembled

‘quickly.

Since it went into mass produc- tion in 1874, 60 million Vienna cafe chairs have been sold. The design has been imitated countless times and is available in metal, with a cane or embossed wood seat.

Charles Eames’ swivel lounge chair

Whenever I see the Eames chair Tam tempted to sink into it, relax and doze off.

When Charles and Ray Eames -

_ designed the swivel lounge chair in

1957, they started by studying the shape, proportion and movement of

‘the body. Their aim was to develop

a chair that was tailor-made to the way we move, sit and relax.

The result is utter luxury and comfort, adjustable to a variety of

Teclining positions. It seems to

wrap itself around the lower back, exactly where we need to release musclo tension.

The chair has a sturdy metal

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base and the shell is made of moulded rosewood. Cushions are down-filled and covered with black leather.

The original is not cheap and has been imitated many times, unfortu- nately always at the expense of comfort and quality.

Mies van der Kohe’s Barcelona chair

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is renowned for his passionate atten- tion to detail and simple clear lines which would make a mockery of

any surface decoration.

His famous motto, “less is more,” characterizes his designs. They are pared down to the essen- tials; their beauty lies in the sim- plicity « of the structural shape.

The Barcelona chair was designed for the International

Exhibition of 1929. The uphol- stered leather seat rests on a grace- fully curved X-shaped buse of stainless steel.

It may not suit traditional living rooms, bul often forms a symbol of status and elegance in large recep- tion areas.

Eero Saarinen’s pedestal chair

The chair designed by Eero Saarinen of Finland in 1957 breaks tradition with the four-legged histo- ry of chairs.

It stands on a'single pedestal and forms a graceful seating group together with the marble-topped pedestal tuble.

‘The base is made of aluminum and the seat of molded fiberglass.

A few years ago | got wrapped on the knuckles by a museum guard for touching Eero Saarinen’s pedestal chair.

[had discovered the secret of cheap imitation. In the original model the upper part of the pedestal is attached smoothly and invisibly to the seat.

‘It gives the chair a finished and beautifully sculpted look. The imi- tation in my dining room has a square metal plate and four sizable

screws which connect pedestal to seal.

Robert Venturi’s group of chairs

The final group of chairs are a fine example for the fun-loving silliness of post-modernism.

Many designers during the late "70s and ’80s rejected the esthetic

simplicity of unembetlished design.

Mies van der Rohe’s saying . “less is more” became “less is a bore.” Post-modern design is play- © ful, pokes fun at tradition and uses strong primary colors.

Robert Venturi’s “Neo Pop”

See Classic page 22

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