11/23/2017 Monobloc (chair) - Wikipedia

Monobloc (chair)
The Monobloc chair is a lightweight stackable polypropylene chair, often described as the world's most common plastic
chair.[1]

Based on original designs by the Canadian designer D.C.Simpson in 1946,[2]

variants of the one-piece plastic chair went into production with Allibert Group
and Grosfillex Group in the 1970s. Since then, millions have been
manufactured in countries including Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, the
United States, Italy, France, Germany, Morocco, Turkey, Israel and China.
Many design variants of the basic idea exist.[3]

The Monobloc chair is named because it is injection moulded from

thermoplastic polypropylene, the granules being heated to about 220 degrees
Celsius, and the melt injected into a mold. The gate of the mould is usually
located in the seat, so ensuring smooth flow to all parts of the tool. The chairs
cost approximately $3 to produce, making them affordable across the world.
A monobloc chair
Social theorist Ethan Zuckerman describes them as having achieved a global
ubiquity:

The Monobloc is one of the few objects I can think of that is free of any specific context. Seeing a white
plastic chair in a photograph offers you no clues about where or when you are.[4]

References
1. "Is This the World's Most Famous Chair?" (https://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/is-this-the-worlds-
most-famous-chair.html). TreeHugger. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
2. CNN, Karim Rashid, Special to. "A brief history of the humble plastic chair" (http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/13/design/hi
story-of-plastic-chairs-karim-rashid/index.html). CNN. Retrieved 2016-12-27.
3. "the monobloc plastic chair" (http://www.designboom.com/history/monobloc.html). designboom. Retrieved
4 December 2014.
4. http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2011/04/06/those-white-plastic-chairs-the-monobloc-and-the-context-free-
object/

Further reading
Gosnell, Mariana (July 2004). "Everybody Take A Seat" (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/everybody-ta
ke-a-seat-2386495/?all). Smithsonian.

External links
Designboom - History of the Monobloc (http://www.designboom.com/history/monobloc.html)
Plastikstuhl - blog dedicated to Monobloc Chairs (http://www.plastikstuhl.de/)

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11/23/2017 Monobloc (chair) - Wikipedia

plasticchair.org blog aiming to gather a monobloc plastic chair picture from every country (http://www.plasticchair.or
g)

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This page was last edited on 5 October 2017, at 13:20.

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