Modern Furniture PDF

RED BLUE CHAIR
YEAR: 1918
DESIGNER: GERRIT RIETVELD
Material: painted wood
Dimensions: 86.7 x 66 cm x 83.8 cm x 33 cm
(h)
In the Red Blue Chair, Rietveld manipulated rectilinear

volumes and examined the interaction of vertical and
horizontal planes, much as he did in his architecture.
Although the chair was originally designed in 1918, its color
scheme of primary colors (red, yellow, blue) plus black—so
closely associated with the de Stijl group and its most famous
theorist and practitioner Piet Mondrian—was applied to it
around 1923. Hoping that much of his furniture would
eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted,
Rietveld aimed for simplicity in construction. The pieces of
wood that comprise the Red Blue Chair are in the standard
lumber sizes readily available at the time.
http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=4044
Hoge stoel high back chair
YEAR: 1919
Dimensions: 91.4 x 64.8 x 61cm
The "Hoge stoel" appeared in print for the first time in the
Dutch journal, "de Stijl," no. 12, 1920 as part of a decor
designed by Theo van Doesburg in 1919. The same chair was
later placed by Rietveld in a clinic at Maarssen (1920), but
without the two original side panels. This particular model
was said to have been shown at the seminal Bauhaus
exhibitions of 1923, but most scholars today believe that
though it had been promised for the show it was never sent.
In any case, there are many analogies which may be drawn
between de Stijl philosophies and the basic tenets of the
Bauhaus movement. The chair's form has many affinities
with Russian Constructivism also, characterized by planar
elements seemingly floating in space.
http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/97011/hogestoel-highback-chair-
gallery-label-current
Schroeder end table
YEAR: 1923
Dimensions:60 x 51.8 x 50.2 cm
The End Table comprised of a blue square top and red

circular base and were connected by a black and a white
rectangle.
It was designed for the Schroder House in Utrech. It was
made of simple components and was an open form.
The End Table comprised of a blue square top and red
circular base and were connected by a black and a white
rectangle. It was designed for the Schroder House in Utrech.
It was made of simple components and was an open form.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemgerritreitv
eldendtable.html
Wassily chair
YEAR: 1925
DESIGNER: marcel breuer
Material: CHROME-PLATED TUBULAR
STEEL AND CANVAS
Dimensions: 71.8 x 78.1 x 71.1 cm
While teaching at the Bauhaus, Breuer often rode a bicycle, a

pastime that led him to what is perhaps the single most
important innovation in furniture design in the twentieth
century: the use of tubular steel. Breuer reasoned that if it
could be bent into handlebars, it could be bent into furniture
forms.
The model for this chair is the traditional overstuffed club
chair; yet all that remains is its mere outline, an elegant
composition traced in gleaming steel. The canvas seat, back,
and arms seem to float in space. The body of the sitter does
not touch the steel framework. The chair became known as
the "Wassily" after the painter Kandinsky, Breuer's friend and
fellow Bauhaus instructor, who praised the design when it
was first produced.
MODEL NO. S33
YEAR: 1926
DESIGNER: MART STAM
Material: LACQUERED, CAST TUBULAR
STEEL FRAME, INTERNALLY
REINFORCED WITH METAL RODS,
FABRIC SEAT AND BACK
This chair started life when the Dutch architect and designer
Martinus Adrianus Stam, known as Mart, started playing
with bits of gas piping. Using 10 straight pieces of pipe
linked with 10 plumbers’ corner-joints, he made the first
“cantilever” chair.
Stam was beaten to the punch, however: in the two years it
took him to refine his gas-pipe concept into a marketable
product, rival architects Marcel Breuer and Le Corbusier also
came up with cantilever chairs.
Stam came to be recognised as the originator of the idea and
today you can buy iconic chairs by all three — and plenty of
others who played around with metal tubing during the fertile
period of interwar modernism.
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article452075.ece
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Mart Stam. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (p. 106).
Cologne: Taschen gmbh.
MODEL NO. B33
YEAR: 1927-1928
DESIGNER: MARCEL BREUER
Material: Chrome-plated tubular steel with steel-
thread seat and back
DIMENSIONS: 83.7 x 49 x 64.5 cm
Unlike Stam’s S33, Marcel Breuer’s model no.

B33 chair utilise non-reinforced tubular steel,
which gives the construction greater resilience
and more comfort. This design eliminates visual
division between the base and seat by using a
continuous supporting frame.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Marcel Breuer. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp.
108-109). Cologne: Taschen gmbh.
Weissenhof chair (mr20)
YEAR: 1927
DESIGNER: LUDWIG MIES VAN DER
ROHE
Material: NICKEL-PLATED BENT TUBULAR
STEEL FRAME AND STRETCHER WITH
WOVEN CANE SEAT AND BACK
Influenced by Marcel Breuer's use of tubular steel, Mies van

der Rohe quickly recognised the compatibility of this
revolutionary material with the contemporary design ethos.
Inspired by the lines of tubular iron rockers designed in
Europe during the mid-19th century, Mies incorporated a
new material and a new technology in the use of the
cantilever principle. Mies van der Rohe used the springiness
of tubular steel (cantilever) as an element in the chair's
construction and designed the first free-swinger in the history
of design.
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?
mid=215f85a135181da456ae031564f8409c
MODEL NO. MR 10
YEAR: 1927
DESIGNER: LUDWIG MIES VAN DER
ROHE
Material: chrome-PLATED BENT TUBULAR
STEEL FRAME AND STRETCHER WITH
“eisengarn” textile seat and back
Throughout the 1920s the German architect Mies van der

Rohe (1886-1969) collaborated with the interior designer
Lilly Reich (1885-1947) on the development of furniture for
his architectural projects. By the mid-1920s they, like other
progressive designers, were fascinated by the possibilities of
tubular metal. Mies and Reich were intrigued by the
cantilever chair, which they saw as the acme of modernity
offering the comfort of a conventional armchair without the
bourgeois associations of upholstery. By 1927, they had
developed the textile-seated MR10 and cane-seated MR20.
Both chairs were exhibited at the 1927 Die Wohnung
exhibition of modern living at the Weissenhof Settlement in
Stuttgart.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. 1000 Chairs:
Taschen 25. (p. 113). Cologne: Taschen gmbh.
http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/online/a-century-of-chairs/1920s
Transat chair
YEAR: 1927
DESIGNER: eileen gray
Material: black-lacquered wood with nickel
steel fittings, the hinged padded back and seat
with blue green fabric upholstery
The name ‘Fauteuil Transat’ that appears in the portfolio

dedicated to the project, ‘E-1027 Maison en Bord de Mer’,
underlines the maritime inspiration — for this is a
sophisticated re-interpretation of that most functionalist of
designs, the classic deck-chair.
http://www.chairblog.eu/2011/03/24/transat-lounge-chair-by-eileen-gray-
1879-1976/
Adjustable Table E 1027
YEAR: 1927
DESIGNER: eileen gray
Material: chromium-plated steel tubing. Top of
crystal glass clear, parsol grey or metal black.
Among the classics this is perhaps the classic. Its ingeniously

proportioned, distinctive form has made this height-
adjustable table into one of the most popular design icons of
the 20th century. It is named after the summer house E 1027,
“Maison en bord de mer”, that Eileen Gray built for herself
and for her collaborator, Jean Badovici.
http://www.classicon.com/classicon,Side_Tables,Adjustable_Table_E_1027,en
,9,9.html
Cesca chair
YEAR: 1928
DESIGNER: Marcel breuer
Material: chrome-plated tubular steel frames
with stained bentwood and woven cane seats
and backs
Michael Breuer’s 1928 Cesca chair combined

traditional craftsmanship with industrial
materials and methods. It is the quintessential
office/ dining chair and can adapt to virtually
any environment.
http://www.knoll.com/products/brochures/CescaChair.pdf
Basculant Chair (b301)
YEAR: 1928
DESIGNER: Le Corbusier and Charlotte
Perriand
Material: CHROMED BENT TUBULAR
STEEL FRAME, CALFSKIN SEAT AND
BACK WITH SLUNG LEATHER ARMS
Also known as the "Colonial Chair", Le Corbusier's

Basculant Chair's elegant lines and tilted seat provide plenty
of leg support while pushing the boundries of design. By Le
Corbusier's admission, the Basculant chair shifted from a
humble utilitarian design to functional art.
http://www.pgmod.com/156-le-corbusier-lc1-basculant-chair.html
GRAND CONFORT
YEAR: 1928
DESIGNER: Le Corbusier , pierre jeanneret and
Charlotte Perriand
Material: CHROMED BENT TUBULAR steel
frame with leather-upholstered cushions
This chair epitomizes the International style. Originally

created for the 1929 Salon d’Automne, they were an integral
part of a collection of interior “equipment” demonstrating a
new luxury and style in tubular steel.
A wide choice of leather upholsteries in both quality and

colour means there is even greater flexibility to this classic
design. The steel frame is chromed and the attention to detail
projects the luxury intended.
http://www.thisisfurniture.com/product_details.php?
product_id=371&subcategory_id=126
Chaise lounge (B306)
YEAR: 1928
Charlotte Perriand
Material: Chrome plated tubular steel frame on
black enameled base with leather upholstered
cushions
The "chaise longue à réglage continu" – also known asB306

– was presented at the "Salone d'Automne" in Paris in 1929
as part of the "Equipement interieur d'une habitation (Interior
equipment of a room)".
It is constituted by two independent elements: the base and
the cradle (seat or rest). The cradle – the form follows the
curve of the human body – appears to move on its base and it
can slide without any mechanisms, with a continual gliding
that allows for any angle and it remains stable thanks to the
friction of steel and the rubber covering the crosspieces of the
base.
Le Corbusier defined it as the "true resting machine" and
mentioned having thought of a cowboy while designing,
smoking his pipe, sitting with his feet up, supported on the
edge of the fireplace.
http://www.classicdesignitalia.com/COLLEZIONE/LeCorbusier/c0606p/tabid/
171/Default.aspx
Siege tournant Swivel chair (model 302)
YEAR: 1928-1929
Charlotte Perriand
Material: CHROMED BENT TUBULAR steel
frame with leather-upholstered seat and back rail
Inspired by a simple office chair, this swivel chair was

designed for use at a desk or dining table. Under Le
Corbusier’s supervision, Charlotte Periand transformed the
utilitarian form by upholstering the seat and back in
luxurious leather. She envisaged the back as providing a solid
comfortable cushion to rest against “like automobile tyres”.
Barcelona chair (mr 90)
YEAR: 1929
DESIGNER: ludwig mies van der rohe
Material: bent chromed flat steel frame with
leather straps and leather-buttoned upholstered
cushions
Seen from the side, the single curve of the bar forming the
chair's back and front legs crosses the S-curve of the bar
forming the seat and back legs, making an intersection of the
two. This simple shape derives from a long history of
precedents, from ancient Egyptian folding stools to
nineteenth-century neoclassical seating. Mies van der Rohe
designed this chair for his German Pavilion at the Barcelona
Exposition of 1929.
Brno chair (mr 50)
YEAR: 1929-1930
Material: bent chromed flat steel frame with
upholstered wood seating section
The Brno chair (model number MR50) is a modernist

cantilever chair designed for the bedroom of the Tugendhat
House in Brno, Czech Republic. The Brno chair was selected
by Dan Cruickshank as one of his 80 man-made "treasures"
in the 2005 BBC series, Around the World in 80 Treasures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brno_chair
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. 1000 Chairs: Taschen
25. (pp. 115). Cologne: Taschen gmbh.
tugendhat chair (mr 70)
YEAR: 1929-1930
Material: bent chromed flat steel frame, tubular
steel connecting spring, buttoned leather-
covered upholstered seat and back sections
In appearance, the Tugendhat chair is somewhat of a hybrid

of Mies van der Rohe's 1929 Barcelona chair and 1929-1930
Brno chair. Like the Barcelona chair, the Tugendhat chair has
a large padded leather seat and back, supported by leather
straps mounted on a steel frame and legs. However, like one
variant of the Brno chair, the frame is flat solid steel, formed
under into a C-shape under the seat to create a cantilever.
Versions exist with or without leather-padded steel arms. The
metal was originally polished stainless steel; modern
examples are often chrome-plated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tugendhat_chair
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. 1000 Chairs: Taschen
paimio chair (no. 41)
YEAR: 1930-1931
DESIGNER: alvar aalto
Material: bent laminated and solid birch frame
with lacquered bent plywood seat section
When Alvar Aalto won the commission to design the Paimio

Sanatorium in the late 1920s, he approached the project as if
he was a patient. No detail escaped him: from the
meticulously planned lay-out of the building and canary
yellow paint on the stairs with which he hoped to cheer up
the patients, to the robust, comfortable furniture made from
Finnish birch. Aalto experimented with plywood for three
years to develop a chair which would ease the breathing of
tuberculosis patients and succeeded in producing the first
pliant chair to be built without a rigid framework.
Cantilevered chair no. 31
YEAR: 1933
Material: bent laminated and solid birch frame
with lacquered bent plywood seat section
This chair has a more subtle curved form than the Armchair
41 but just as comfortable. The frame was thicker from the
front of the seat down as there was more stress on the frame
there. Alvar Alto constructed the frame with 7 layers of
lamination and less for the arms and back as they required
less reinforcement.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemalvaraalto
no31chair.html
Viipuri stacking stools (model no. 60)
YEAR: 1932-1933
Material: bent laminated birch construction
Originally designed for the Viipuri Library, these stools

caused a sensation when they were exhibited in 1933 with
Aalto’s Paimio Chair at Fortnum & Mason department store
in London. Aalto’s practical, stackable stools have since been
in constant use – particularly in public buildings such as
schools and libraries.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Alvar Alto. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp. 164).
Zigzag chair
YEAR: 1932-1934
DESIGNER: gerrit rietveld
Material: oak construction with brass fittings
Rietveld’s early work with wood reinforced his later

role as a radical designer, architect and member of the
avant garde De Stijl movement. It gave him the
technical expertise to put some of De Stijl’s principles
into practice, notably by realising its zest for oblique
diagonal lines in this cantilevered Zig-Zag chair.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Gerrit Rietveld. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp.
157). Cologne: Taschen gmbh.
Standard chair
YEAR: 1934
DESIGNER: jean prouve
Materials: painted bent tubular steel and steel
frame with lacquered moulded plywood seat and
back, rubber feet
Prouve's inventive move from tubular steel, innovated by the

Bauhaus movement, into the use of bent pressed and
compressed sheet metal, for its strength meant that the chair
frame is extremely strong whilst continuing to look
lightweight.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemjeanprouv
estandardchair.html
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Jean Prouve. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp. 142).
CRATE
YEAR: 1934
Materials: RED SPRUCE CONSTRUCTION
Intended for use in holiday homes, the Crate reflects the

growing enthusiasm of its designer, the visionary architect
Gerrit Rietveld (1888-1964) for rudimentary construction
during the 1930s. Like its predecessor, the Zig-Zag Chair, the
Crate was simply constructed from inexpensive planks of
wood with visible flaws. For Rietveld, the uncompromising
simplicity of the Crate was an honest response to the harsh
economic climate during the early 1930s.
Chaise lounge
YEAR: 1935-1936
Materials: bent laminated birch frame with bent
plywood seat section
When Marcel Breuer arrived in England as an exile from

Germany, he was eager to continue the experiments with
tubular steel. Jack Pritchard, a sympathetic furniture maker
who had offered to manufacture Breuer's designs, claimed
that the British were too conservative to buy metal furniture
and insisted that Breuer worked in wood. The result was the
Long Chair, devised by Breuer from a laminated birch frame
of two parts joined by the seat as a wooden version of his
earlier metal chaises lounges. Pritchard publicised the Long
Chair as offering "scientific relaxation to every part of the
body".
Serving cart
YEAR: 1936
Materials: continuous moulded laminated Birch
timber structure with white linoleum shelves and
woven willow basket. White lacquered wheels
with slim rubber capping
The 1936 cart design was similar to the Paimio

design, but altered to suit residential purposes. It only
had one shelf but had the addition of a willow basket
to carry tall items that may fall over when the cart
was pushed. It worked better as the removal of one
shelf meant walking behind the cart became easier. It
was a double tiered wooden trolley, quieter to move
around the wards than the traditional hospital cart.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemalvaraalto
servingcart.html
BARREL (TALIESIN) CHAIR
YEAR: 1937
DESIGNER: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
Material: natural cherrywood with an
upholstered leather seat
Dimensions: 23 5/8" x 23 1/8" x 33"
Designed for the private residence of the Johnson Wax

family for Wingspread in Windpoint, Wisconsin. Wright
considered the barrel chair as one of his most important
designs and placed them in his most famous commissions.
He used a larger version in the Darwin Martin house, Falling
Water and in his own residence, Taliesin East.
http://www.architonic.com/dcsht/barrel-chair-wright/4100102
ARMCHAIR 406
YEAR: 1938-1939
DESIGNER: ALVAR AALTO
Material: LAMINATED WOOD AND SOLID
BIRCH FRAME WITH TEXTILE WEBBING
Conceived as a variation on Alvar Aalto’s earlier laminated

wood cantilevered armchair, the Chair No. 406 was designed
at the same time as he was working on the Finnish Pavilion
for the 1939 New York World’s Fair and Villa Mairea, a
house for the industrialist Harry Gullichsen and his wife
Maire. A few years earlier Aalto (1898-1976) had co-founded
Artek, the furniture manufacturer, with Maire Gullichsen and
his own wife Aino. Based in Helsinki, Artek produced many
of Aaalto’s furniture designs and continues to manufacture
them today.
landi or spartana chair
YEAR: 1938
DESIGNER: hans coray
Material: bent and pressed aluminium
construction
When Hans Fischli, the architect of the 1939 Swiss National

Exhibition in Zurich, organised a open competition to design
the official chair for use in the parks and gardens, it was won
by literature student Hans Coray (1906-1991) with the design
for this aluminium alloy Landi chair, named after the
exhibition. Practicality was the priority for Coray when
designing the Landi. It needed to be light and stackable to
enable the exhibition staff to move chairs from place to place
for different events. As an outdoor chair, it also needed to be
rainproof. Coray’s solution was to add perforations which not
only reduced the chair’s weight but allowed rain to drain
from the seat.
Sling or butterfly chair
YEAR: 1938
DESIGNER: jorge ferrari-hardoy, juan kurchan
and antonio bonet
Material: enamelled tubular steel frame with
leather sling seat
The B.K.F. Chair—also known as the Hardoy Chair,

Butterfly Chair, Safari Chair, Sling Chair, or Wing Chair—
was designed in Buenos Aires. Its name credits its three
designers. The first two B.F.K. chairs to come to the United
States went to Fallingwater, Edgar Kaufmann Jr.'s home in
Pennsylvania (designed by family friend Frank Lloyd
Wright), and to MoMA. Kaufmann accurately predicted that
the lightweight and inexpensive lounge chair would become
hugely popular in the U.S., particularly on the West Coast.
Artek-Pascoe produced the chair from 1941 to 1948, sending
royalties back to Argentina. Knoll Associates acquired U.S.
production rights in the late 1940s and unsuccessfully
pursued legal action against unauthorized copies, which
continue to be produced to this day.
pelican
YEAR: 1940
DESIGNER: finn juhl
Material: fully upholstered seating section with
maple legs
With graceful curves that befriend the body and wrap the
sitter in its embrace, the Pelican is true to Juhl’s idea that “a
chair is not just a product of decorative art in a space, it is a
form and a space in itself.” And while the influence of
contemporary sculpture is clear, Juhl was quick to clarify that
“furniture is furniture, not sculpture.”
http://www.dwr.com/product/living/chairs-recliners/chairs/pelican-chair-
fabric-a.do?sortby=ourPicks
Armchair (model nv.45)
YEAR: 1945
DESIGNER: finn juhl
Material: mahogany frame with textile-covered
upholstered seating section
The NV-45 chair, a beautiful example of the fruitful

cooperation between Finn Juhl and the cabinet maker
Niels Vodder, was presented the first time at the
"Snedkerlaugets møbeludstilling" at the
Kunstindustrimuseet (Museum of Decorative Arts) in
Copenhagen between the 28. Sept. - 14. Oct. 1945.
http://www.deconet.com/product.action?id=11878
Plywood coffee table
YEAR: 1946
DESIGNER: charles and ray eames
Material: bent birch-faced plywood frame
Using the same technology that led to the invention of their

iconic moulded plywood lounge chairs, the Eameses
designed their Plywood Coffee Table (1946) to have a lean,
shaped form that was durable yet lightweight. In 1945,
George Nelson, the Herman Miller design director, saw the
moulded plywood coffee table and other ground-breaking
Eames moulded plywood pieces at a showing at the Barclay
Hotel in New York. Nelson was so impressed that he
contacted the Eameses, and soon afterward, Charles and Ray
were designing for Herman Miller. The table went into
production in 1946.
http://www.hermanmiller.com/Products/Eames-Molded-Plywood-Coffee-Table
http://www.dwr.com/product/manufacturer/herman-miller/pre_sale/eames-
molded-plywood-coffee-table.do?sortby=ourPicks
LCM (Lounge chair metal)
YEAR: 1945-1946
Material: chrome-plated tubular steel frame
attached to “slunk skin” (animal hide)-covered
moulded plywood seat and back with rubber
shock-mounts
The LCM Chair is one of a group of plywood chairs that was

first shown in 1945 at New York at the Museum of Modern
Art.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemcharlesea
meslcmchair.html
LCM (Lounge chair wood)
YEAR: 1945-1946
Material: bent birch-faced plywood frame
attached to moulded birch-faced plywood seat
and back with rubber shock mounts
In the early 1940s, after working all day on MGM set

designs, Charles Eames returned to his small L.A. apartment
with his wife, Ray. Together the two designers worked
through their evenings, using thin sheets of veneer and a
bicycle-pump compressor to experiment with wood-molding
techniques. The technology they developed during those late
hours made their revolutionary furniture designs possible,
including this modest chair that Time magazine recently
named the Best Design of the 20th Century. The contours of
its low and casual form cradle the human body more
comfortably than one would imagine can be done by a
wooden chair.
http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Eames%20LCW%
20Chair_10451_10001_49581_-1_11461_11462_null_shop_
Womb chair
YEAR: 1947-1948
DESIGNER: eero saarinen
Material: bent tubular steel frame with fabric-
covered upholstered moulded fibreglass seat
shell and latex foam cushions, nylon glides
Eero Saarinen designed with the human form in mind as the

end user of the furniture. The Womb chair envelops the
persons and creates a safe and comfortable place to curl up
and relax. It's organic form is representative of the mid
century Scandinavian modernism style of furniture using
synthetic materials to create organically inspired forms.
To increase the comfort he also designed a coordinating
ottoman or foot stool. It was designed for Knoll Associates
Inc. and is still in production.
http://www.modernfurnituredesigners.interiordezine.com/items/itemeerosaarin
enwombchair.html
La chaise
YEAR: 1948
Material: fibreglass seat shell on a wood and
steel rod base
This chaise longue was inspired by Gaston Lachaise's

1927 sculpture Reclining Nude and nicknamed after
the artist. It did not receive a prize because it was
considered too "specialized in use" and too expensive
to manufacture at the time. However, it was
highlighted by the judges, who admired its "striking,
good-looking and inventive" molded construction. La
Chaise finally went into production in 1990 and is
now one of the Eameses's signature works.
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?
criteria=O%3ADE%3AI%3A1|G%3AHO%3AE%3A1&page_number=15&so
rt_order=1&template_id=1
DAR (DINING ARMCHAIR ROD)
YEAR: 1948-1950
Material: MOULDED FIBREGLASS-
REINFORCED POLYESTER SEAT SHELL
CONNECTED TO AN “EIFELL TOWER”
METAL ROD BASE WITH RUBBER SHOCK
MOUNTS
The DAR Chair (DAR Dining Armchair Rod) is part of the

Plastic Shell Group if chairs designed by the Eameses, from
their ideas and prototypes by Charles Eames and Eero
Saarinen conceived for the Museum of Modern Art's
"Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition in 1940.
mesdarchair.html
http://www.deconet.com/product/248271/1953_RARE_1ST_YEAR_PRODUC
TION_DAR_BY_EAMES_FOR_ZENITH_PLASTICS_CO_by_Charles_&_Ra
y_Eames
RAR (ROCKING ARMCHAIR ROD)
YEAR: 1948-1950
Material: MOULDED FIBREGLASS-
REINFORCED POLYESTER SEAT SHELL
CONNECTED TO A METAL ROD AND
BIRCH SLED BASE WITH RUBBER SHOCK
MOUNTS
Plastic Armchairs were first presented as part of the

famed New York Museum of Modern Art competition,
"Low Cost Furniture Design". Their organically shaped
seat shells made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic were
later combined with various different bases, such as
RAR's rockers and manufactured in their millions. In
their latest version made of polypropylene the
Armchairs now offer even greater sitting comfort.
http://www.vitra.com/en-un/home/products/eames-plastic-armchair-
rar/overview/
Y chair or wishbone chair
YEAR: 1950
DESIGNER: hans j. wegner
Material: oak frame with woven paper cord seat
The “Y” chair, sometimes known as the

“Wishbone”, is Wegner’s most commercially
successful design.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Hans J. Wegner. 1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp.
Em table
YEAR: 1950
Material: black painted sheet metal base,
tapered, turned out angled, with a traverse brace
in metal tubing and a veneered timber table top
Jean Prouvé developed this classic icon of modern

industrial design for the "Maison Tropique", a project
for prefabricated housing in France, at the beginning of
the fifties as a variation of an earlier design. With
every single detail governed by its construction, the
table follows the aesthetics of necessity and
functionality. The Jean Prouvé EM table illustrates the
force vectors and static connections in a way that is
otherwise only familiar in the context of civil
engineering works. The elegance of "EM" can be
attributed to the slight slant of the legs.
http://www.stardust.com/EMTABLE.html
Antony chair
YEAR: 1950
Material: painted bent tubular and flat steel
frame with moulded plywood seat section
The Antony chair was originally designed for the University

of Strasbourg and manufactured by Jean Prouve's own
company and distributed by Steph Simon of Paris.
http://www.retrotogo.com/2008/03/jean-prouve-ant.html
Antelope chair
YEAR: 1950
DESIGNER: ernest race
Material: painted bent tubular steel frame with
moulded plywood seat section
The Antelope chair embraced all the practical

requirements of post-war furniture. The
Antelope’s jaunty curves, spindly legs and
comical ball feet evoked the growing
optimism of the British as they entered the
1950s convinced that science and technology
would create a better future. The Antelope
was commissioned to furnish the outdoor
terraces of the newly built Royal Festival Hall
for the 1951 Festival of Britain together with
the stackable Springbok chair.
Elliptical table rod base
YEAR: 1951
Material: 7 ply plywood with a high pressure
laminate top and zinc plated wire base
The elliptical table is often referred to as the

Surfboard Table due to it's elliptical shape
tabletop. It highlights the wide design flavor that
the Eameses created.
meslelipticaltable.html
Wire mesh chair
YEAR: 1951-1953
Material: bent and welded steel rod seat shell on
“eiffel tower” metal rod base
Having concentrated on plywood seating when they

arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1940s, Charles
and Ray Eames (1907-1978 and 1912-1988) were
producing chairs from fibreglass bucket seats and
steel bases at the end of the decade. By the early
1950s, their experiments focused on the design of
wire mesh chairs made from bent and welded steel.
By doubling the gauge of the steel for the rim of the
chair, the Eames developed a light, airy piece of
furniture, which was also extremely robust.
Superleggera, model no. 699
YEAR: 1951-1957
DESIGNER: gio ponti
Material: ASH FRAME WITH WOVEN RUSH
SEAT
This ‘super-lightweight’ chair was inspired by the

traditional rustic Italian chairs made by artisans in
the fishing villages around Chiavari in Liguria.
Determined to design a light, compact,
inexpensive chair, Ponti reduced the weight to
1.7kg by using triangular-shaped legs and struts
rather than the usual round ones. Finely balanced
as well as light, the Superleggera 699 can be lifted
up with just one finger.
Model no. 420c
YEAR: 1950-1952
DESIGNER: harry bertoia
Material: vinyl-coated bent and welded steel rod
construction with loose seat cushion
Bertoia was at Cranbrook during the

period when Charles Eames was head
of the Department of Experimental
Design. The wire chairs of Bertoia
appeared a year after the wire chair of
Charles Eames. Although they are
different in form, the basic concept is
similar and both make use of the same
material.
http://www.steelform.com/harry-bertoia/wire-chair.html
Diamond chair
YEAR: 1950-1952
DESIGNER: harry bertoia
Material: vinyl-coated bent and welded steel rod
construction with loose seat cushion
“If you look at these chairs, you will see that they
are mainly made of air, just like light sculptures,”
observed their designer Harry Bertoia (1915-
1978).
Bertoia had started to develop light, airy furniture
from wire as a student at the Cranbrook Academy
in Michigan during the late 1930s. When Bertoia
set up his own studio in Pennsylvania in 1950, he
returned to wire furniture and developed the
elegant Diamond Chair for Knoll International.
ant
YEAR: 1951-1952
DESIGNER: arne jacobsen
Material: painted plywood seat connected to
tubular steel base , rubber cap feet
Despite its minimalist and svelte form, the Ant

chair by Arne Jacobsen is extremely comfortable
due to its shell design while achieving a beauty
and elegance which has made Jacobsen's first
stacking chair one of his best-known designs.
Although a revolutionary design, the Ant was not
an immediate hit when first launched by Fritz
Hansen in 1952.
http://hivemodern.com/pages/products.php?
view=sub_product&sid=1589&cid=
Rocking stool
YEAR: 1954
DESIGNER: isamu noguchi
Material: painted wood seat and base-connected
with chrome steel rod structure
Noguchi studied sculpture in New York

after dropping out of medical school in the
1920s and then moved to Paris where he
worked as an assistant to Constantin
Brancusi. His sculptural sensiblility is
evident in this Rocking Stool, originally
developed for production by Knoll, which
also fulfils the practical function of a seat.
Series 7
YEAR: 1955
Material: Painted moulded plywood seat
connected to chromed bent tubular steel base
with rubber cap feet
The Series 7 Chair debuted in 1955 at the H55

exhibition in Sweden, and the appeal of what
remains one of the most copied chairs of the
modern era is its shape. The chair is ideally suited
to the human body, its seatback has a comfortable
"give" and its waterfall seat edge doesn't press into
legs. Arne Jacobsen, who was instilled with a love
of materials, shaped the core of Danish design
identity when he accommodated three different
bends in one piece of plywood, simply by
narrowing the chair back.
http://www.dwr.com/product/manufacturer/fritz-hansen/series-7-
collection/series-7-chair-wood-183%22.do?sortby=ourPicks
coconut
YEAR: 1955
DESIGNER: george nelson
Material: fabric-covered, foam-upholstered steel
shell and chrome tubular metal and metal rod legs
Originally introduced by Herman Miller in 1955, the

Nelson coconut chair is a 20th century furniture icon. It
has a simple, striking shape, and it's also a very
comfortable place to unwind at home or in the private
office or lounge. The Coconut chair is typical of 1950s
design, with its shallow sides and inviting curves.
Designed to mirror a coconut, cut up into eight sections
and is distinguishable by its formal clarity and
minimisation of materials. The simplicity of the design is
what has made the Coconut chair a hit throughout the
decades, with a plush upholstered cushion that provides
comfort in style.
http://www.express-furniture.co.uk/item--
George+Nelson+Inspired+Coconut+Chair--EFW-
DC020.html
butterfly
YEAR: 1956
DESIGNER: sori yanagi
Material: moulded rosewood with brass
stretcher
Ease of travel in the jet age encouraged a

growing fusion of cultural influences after World
War II. Although Yanagi's stool was designed and
manufactured in Japan, it employs Western form
(the stool) and material (bentwood). Its
calligraphic elegance, however, suggests a
distinctly Asian sensibility despite the rarity of
such seating furniture in traditional Japanese
culture. The stool is made from two curving and
inverted L-shaped rosewood sections, each
forming one leg and half of the seat. A metal rod
midway between the legs serves as a stretcher
and holds the stool together.
Sori Yanagi: "Butterfly" stool (model no. T-0521) (1988.195) | Heilbrunn

Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Model no.670 and model no. 671
YEAR: 1956
Material: rosewood-faced moulded plywood
seat shells with leather-covered cushions, cast
aluminium base
Most of the work of the Eames’ studio was

devoted to developing mass-manufactured
furniture at affordable prices, but the Lounge
Chair was an exception. It was a design that was
more opulent that what they usually did. It
combined industrial production with hand
craftsmanship in leather upholstery and a
moulded plywood shell with a rosewood veneer
that enables the chair to move with the sitter.
pk22
YEAR: 1955-1956
DESIGNER: poul kjaerholm
Material: chromed flat steel frame with leather
seat and back
PK22 Easy Chair (1957) was inspired by the light,

elegant klismos chair created by the ancient
Greeks. With this piece, Kjærholm reduced the
chair to three elements: legs, seat and connecting
clamps. Such simplicity is true to the International
Style, and the combination of a steel structure with
natural materials was characteristic of his work.
Through his disciplined approach, the chair's
cantilevered seat is stabilized by a double cross
beam that is precisely positioned so the body rests
naturally without a hard front edge or top rail.
http://www.dwr.com/product/designers/h-l/poul-kjaerholm/pk22-easy-chair-
wicker.do
Marshmallow sofa
YEAR: 1956
Material: painted tubular steel frame with vinyl-
covered latex foam-filled circular pads backed
with steel disks
The Nelson Marshmallow Sofa is a hallmark of modern

design, with a recognizable look and fun, unique style.
Some may find it surprising that the Nelson
Marshmallow Sofa was actually designed somewhat by
accident, as Nelson and Harper's quest for high-
resiliency low cost cushions was never reached. During
this process, this now famous design was born as they
placed 18 of the proposed cushions on a steel frame.
Herman Miller recognized their ?failure? as an
innovative design, and the rest is history.
http://www.inmod.com/maso.html
Tulip chair
YEAR: 1955-1956
DESIGNER: eero saarinen
Material: plastic-coated cast aluminium base
supporting moulded fibreglass seat shell with
loose upholstered latex foam cushion
In a 1956 cover story in Time magazine,

Eero Saarinen said he was designing a
collection to "clear up the slum of legs in
the U.S. home." Later that year, he
completed his Pedestal Table and Tulip
Chair Collection (1956) and obliterated the
"slum" by creating a cast aluminum base
inspired by a drop of high-viscosity liquid.
http://www.dwr.com/product/saarinen-tulip-armless-chair-
vinyl.do?keyword=TULIP+CHAIR+&sortby=ourPicks
mezzadro
YEAR: 1957
DESIGNER: achille and pier giacomo
castiglioni
Material: lacquered tractor seat on chromed flat
steel stem with wing-nut solid beech footrest
Inspired by the ready-made sculpture of the early

20th century artist Marcel Duchamp, Achille
Castiglioni (1918-2002) and his brother Pier Giacomo
(1913-1968) often made furniture from found
industrial objects, such as the racing bicycle saddle of
the Sella stool and the tractor seat of this Mezzadro
chair. The choice of the tractor seat, a reference to the
modernisation of Italian agriculture, evoked the
brothers’ passion for industry and Italy’s rustic
traditions.
Egg chair
YEAR: 1957-1958
Material: fabric covered , foam-upholstered
moulded fibreglass seat shell on a swivelling
cast aluminium base with loose cushion
Arne Jacobsen designed the SAS Royal Hotel

in Copenhagen, as well as many of the
furnishings. For its busy lobby, he created the
biomorphic Egg (1958) and Swan, which are
believed to be the first swivelling upholstered
chairs. More than 50 years after its design, the
Egg Chair is still used in advertising, film and
television as a symbol of sophisticated
urbanism. Made in Denmark.
http://www.dwr.com/product/egg-chair-tonus-
fabric.do?
keyword=egg+chair&sortby=ourPicks
SWAN CHAIR
YEAR: 1957-1958
Material: fabric covered , foam-upholstered
moulded fibreglass seat shell on a swivelling
cast aluminium base
Before the Swan Chair (1958), Arne

Jacobsen's architecture and designs were
shaped by an assumption of materials' natural
ways of resisting. In other words, he could
make them go only so far in becoming the
structure he desired. With new technologies,
however, the old rules no longer applied and
he was able to shape fluid curves and single-
piece moulded shells. The Swan Chair is now
made from polyurethane foam, but at the time,
Jacobsen used Styropore to create its
continuous shape.
http://www.dwr.com/product/manufacturer/fritz-hansen/swan-
collection/swan-chair-fabric.do?sortby=ourPicks
Aluminium group (ea117)
YEAR: 1958
Material: enamelled aluminum frame and base
with textile-upholstered sling seat
The “Aluminium Group” was originally

designed for indoor and outdoor
domestic use, and during its
development was often referred to as
the “Leisure Group”.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Charles and Ray Eames. 1000 Chairs: Taschen
Comprehensive storage system (CSS)
YEAR: 1959
Material: enameled aluminum, aluminum,
walnut, enameled pressboard, fabric, laminate,
plastic
The CSS was designed by

George Nelson for for Herman
Miller in the 1950’s. What is
unique about this storage system
is the fact that its elements can be
rearranged anytime to suit the
requirements of the user since it
has adjustable brackets mounted
within a continuous rack along
each pole.
http://modernfindings.com/archives/2518
http://www.wright20.com/auctions/view/IIE9/IIFA/142/LA/none/TOP/0
panton
YEAR: 1959-1960
DESIGNER: verner panton
Material: moulded “baydur” (pu-hard foam)
construction
Sexy, sleek and a technical first – as the first

cantilevered chair to be made from a single piece
of plastic – the Panton Chair epitomises the
optimism of the 1960s. Inspired by the sight of a
pile of plastic buckets stacked neatly on top of
each other, Verner Panton (1926-1998) had
struggled with ways of constructing a plastic
cantilevered chair since the 1950s. When the
Panton Chair was finally unveiled in the Danish
design journal Mobilia in August 1967, it caused
a sensation.
polyprop
YEAR: 1962-1963
DESIGNER: robin day
Material: injection-moulded polypropylene seat
shell on enamelled bent tubular steel base
There can be few schools, factories and village

halls in the UK which do not contain at least one
Polyprop chair. Day himself only realised how
ubiquitous the Polyprop had become when he
spotted the polypropylene seat shells in a
makeshift canoe in Botswana. Day determined
to use the new technology of injection-moulding
polypropylene to create a single form for the
seat shell. The technology – and Day’s design –
was so efficient that Hille International could
manufacture over 4,000 seat shells each week.
Ball chair
YEAR: 1963-1965
DESIGNER: eero aarnio
Material: moulded fibreglass-reinforced polyester seating
section on painted aluminium base with internal fabric-
covered foam upholstery
Eero Aarnio from Finland has a reputation for

eccentric industrial design furniture with a
modernism tilt, and he created the ball chair by using
one of the simplest geometric forms. The ball chair
was presented to the modern retro furniture world at
the International Furniture Fair in Cologne Germany.
Heralded as the deluxe ball chair it was known as a
"room within a room" and great for relaxing, reading
or even taking a discreet phone call.
http://furnish.co.uk/items/6678-eero-aarnio-ball-globe-chair
MODEL NO. GF 40/4
YEAR: 1964
DESIGNER: DAVID ROWLAND
Material: Moulded plywood seat and back with chromed
steel rod frame
One of the most commercially successful contract

chairs ever produced, the GF 40/4 was developed by
the US designer David Rowland with practicality as
the prime consideration. Determined to ensure that
his chair would be as light and easy to stack as
possible, Rowland strove to reduce the structure to
its barest elements. He succeeded in developing a
comfortable chair for use in offices, conference
rooms and other public buildings that could be
stacked 40-high at a height of just four feet.
Rowland named the chair – 40/4 – after this feat.
When the 40/4 was unveiled in 1964 at the Milan
XIII Triennale, its designer was rewarded with a
gold medal.
solus
YEAR: 1964
DESIGNER: gae aulenti
Material: chromed tubular steel construction with fabric
upholstered seat
Influenced by the work of

contemporary designers, Gae
Aulenti was encouraged to
reconsider the principles and
approach of modernist pioneers
in his own work. Aulenti’s 1965
Solus chair not only evokes
stylistic references to 1920s
modern movement furniture but
uses similar materials – leather
and tubular steel.
Hammock Pk-24
YEAR: 1965
DESIGNER: Poul Kjaerholm
Material: adjustable design, stainless steel frame, woven
wicker seat and backrest, neck cushion covered in classic
black leather.
The PK24 is remarkable for

Kjaerholm’s sculptural treatment of
stainless steel, a material that, he
believed, was as pliable and
expressive as the wood favoured by
other Scandinavian designers. Like
the PK22, the chaise longue is also
light, lean and portable: a practical
piece of modern furniture.
http://www.deconet.com/product/243002/searchresult/all?s=4
universale
YEAR: 1965
DESIGNER: joe colombo
Material: injection-moulded “cycolac” abs plastic
Obsessed by making a chair from a

single piece of material, Colombo first
tried to develop the Universale stacking
chair in aluminium, but then
experimented with ABS plastic. Light,
portable and easy to clean, the
Universale is also adjustable as its legs
can be unscrewed and replaced with
longer ones. Colombo strove for two
years to perfect it for mass-production.
pastille
YEAR: 1967-1968
DESIGNER: eero aarnio
Material: moulded fibreglass-reinforced polyester
structure
The “Pastille chair or the “Gyro”, is a novel

interpretation of a rocking chair. With its
bold organic form, he chair exemplifies the
sophisticated approach of many
scandanavian designers to synthetic
materials. Designed for interior and exterior
use, it won an A.I.D. award in 1968.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Eero Aarnio.1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp. 367).
Additional living system
YEAR: 1967-1968
Material: textile-covered moulded polyurethane foam on
tubular iron frame with metal clamps
In 1967, Colombo unveiled the Additional Living

System consisting of moulded polyurethane
cushions in six different sizes which could be
pinned together in different configurations
according to the users’ wishes.
http://danmarcus.wordpress.com/2007/07/28/joe-colombo/
selene
YEAR: 1969
DESIGNER: vico magistretti
Material: compression-moulded “Reglar” fibreglass
reinforced polyester structure
“The key to the Selene chair was

the section of the leg. I think I dealt
with the problem by using a
particular technology in the most
proper way possible, but without
allowing myself to be conditioned
by it, or even inspired by the idea of
modernity for its own sake.”
Vico Magistretti
http://www.bonluxat.com/a/Vico_Magistretti_New_Selene_Chair.html
Donna up5
YEAR: 1969
DESIGNER: gaetano pesce
Material: stretch fabric-covered moulded polyurethane
foam
The Donna Up5 was regarded as

uncompromisingly radical in 1969. Pesce
designed it as part of a new series of
vacuum sealed upholstered furniture which
could be bought in as a flat pack and
literally sprang to life once the vacuum
seal was broken. Described by Pesce as
“transformation furniture”, each piece is
compressed to a tenth of its full size when
vacuum-packed in PVC before expanding
to its full size after the pack is opened. The
Up5 became unexpectedly popular in the
UK when it was featured as the diary room
chair in the 2002 series of the reality TV
show Big Brother.
birillo
YEAR: 1969-1970
Material: chromed steel and tubular steel frame with
leather-covered upholstered seat and backrest on
fibreglass base
Colombo designed the Birillo stool, which takes

its name from the Italian word for “bar stool”,
during the development of his ambitious Visiona
project to create an imaginary living space.
Robust and versatile with castors tucked neatly
beneath its base, the Birillo was intended for use
in fashionable 1970s offices as well as bars.
Synthesis 45
YEAR: 1971
DESIGNER: Ettore Sottsass
Material: injection-moulded abs height-adjustable frame
and base with textile-covered polyurethane foam-
upholstered seat and back
The Synthesis 45 chair was one of a number of

designs for the office environment designed by
Scotsass for Olivetti. With Olivetti’s Synthesis 45,
Sctosass evolved a completely integrated office
environment of technically innovative and
visually seductive office products including desks,
filing cabinets, chairs, screens and accessories. He
aimed to provide a neutral, non-oppressive setting
that created a feeling of calm and harmony
through soft colours and unobtrusive components.
Scotsass’s collaboration with Olivetti is among the
most fruitful between an industrial concern and a
designer.
http://www.apencilfulloflead.com/?p=2 305
omkstak
YEAR: 1971
DESIGNER: Rodney Kinsman
Material: tubular steel frame with epoxy-coated pressed
sheet steel seat and back
The chair itself has a tubular frame with perforated

metal sheeting for the seat and back. The Omkstak
became one of the most popular chairs of the 1970ʹs. A
rational design, which was conceived specifically for
efficient, inexpensive volume production, the Omkstak
is now regarded as an enduring symbol of the ‘high
tech’ style of interior design.
Wiggle side chair
YEAR: 1972
DESIGNER: frank o gehry
Material: laminated cardboard construction
One of Gehry’s Easy Edges chairs, the Wiggle is

composed of sixty layers of cardboard bonded and
screwed together. Gehry transformed an everyday
material – the corrugated cardboard from which his
architectural models were made - into a solid
sculptural form. “I began to play with it, to glue it
together and to cut it into shapes with a hand saw
and a pocket knife,” he recalled.
aeo
YEAR: 1972
DESIGNER: paolo deganello
Material: lacquered steel frame and fibreglass-reinforced
polyamide “duratan” base with fabric sleeve and fabric-
covered polyurethane foam and polyester padded
cushion
By the end of the 60ʹs, a new generation of radical

Italian architects and designers was emerging with an
increasingly critical, cynical view of the modern
movement and its faith in technology as a force for
progress. Among them was Paolo Deganello who co-
founded the avant garde design group Archizoom in
Florence, with Andrea Branzi. Like their fellow
radicals, they were interested in applying their political
and social ideas to experimental furniture as well as to
architecture. In the AEO – or Alpha and Omega –
Deganello attempted to reinvent the armchair by
developing a collapsible structure made up of different
parts, each in a material relating to its function.
Abacus 700
YEAR: 1973
DESIGNER: david mellor
Material: 700 range tubular steel frame and steel wire
seat
One of the most prolific British

designers and design manufacturers of
the 20th century, David Mellor is best
known for his elegantly modern
cutlery, but he has also applied his
metalworking skills to other products,
notably the Abacus 700 series of
outdoor seating. Mellor designed this
outdoor seating range in the
fashionable 1970s high-tech style for
Abacus, the Nottinghamshire-based
manufacturer of furniture and lighting
for public spaces
Armchair 4794
YEAR: 1974
DESIGNER: gae aulenti
Material: black lacquered moulded polyurethane
An exponent of the post-war Italian belief that the

architect should adopt a unified approach to design
– “from the spoon to the city”, as Ernesto Rogers
put it – Aulenti is passionate about the importance
of each element of a design project being
particular to its location. As a furniture and
lighting designer she has relished the opportunity
to experiment with materials and typologies in
objects that reflect her love of restrained elegance.
When developing the Armchair 4794, she softened
the plastic into a gently curvaceous form.
Glass chair
YEAR: 1976
DESIGNER: shiro kuramata
Material: laminated glass
Kuramata took advantage of a

recently-invented adhesive to create
this tense glass chair, which is
perfectly functional despite its effect
of unreliable fragility and
weightlessness.
http://www.designboom.com/portrait/kuramata/glass_chair.html
CAB 412
YEAR: 1976
DESIGNER: mario bellini
Material: enamelled steel frame with zip-fastening
saddle-stitched leather covering
It was 1977 when Mario Bellini developed this

brilliant concept… a flexible steel frame
covered with a ‘skin’ of saddle leather. The use
of zippers completes the piece to create a
timeless design that transcends multiple
environments.
http://www.designconnected.com/catalog/product/Cab_p4288/Cassina-
Italy_m229
supporto
YEAR: 1979
DESIGNER: fred scott
Material: polished aluminium frame with gas-cylinder
height-mechanism and textile –covered foam-
upholstered seat and back sections
After leaving school Scott joined a local

furniture manufacturer as an apprentice
cabinet maker. He won numerous awards for
his work and in 1963 was awarded a place to
study furniture design at the Royal College of
Art in London. His design of the Supporto
was based on the scientific research conducted
by Hille and on the results of the consumer
tests of each prototype.
“Carlton" room divider
YEAR: 1981
DESIGNER: ettore sottsass
Material: Wood and plastic laminate
Between 1981 and 1988, Sottsass and a

small international group of like-minded
designers who called themselves Memphis
created nonconformist furniture. The
totemic "Carlton" room divider is an
outstanding example of his Memphis
designs. Although intended for a luxury
market and of fine workmanship, it is made
of cheap plastic laminates rather than fine
woods. The vivid colors and seemingly
random interplay of solids and voids
suggest avant-garde painting and sculpture.
Yet, typical of Sottsass, underlying the
surface brilliance is an entirely logical
structural system, of real and implied
equilateral triangles.
Ettore Sottsass: "Carlton" room divider (1997.460.1ab) | Heilbrunn Timeline

of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tippy jackson table
YEAR: 1982
DESIGNER: philippe starck
Material: painted tubular and sheet metal
French architect and designer, Philippe

Starck, emerged in the mid-1980’s
with original furniture for
sophisticated clients. He often made
use of industrial materials, employing
simple, often abstract geometric
shapes with elegant solutions to
support systems and collapsibility for
storage, as in his Tippy Jackson Table.
Raizman, D. (2003). Politics, Pluralism and Postmodernism. History of

modern design: graphics and products since the industrial revolution (p. 357).
London: Laurence King.
torso
YEAR: 1982
DESIGNER: paolo deganello
Material: steel frame with elastic webbing, fabric-
covered polyurethane foam and polyester padding
upholstery
Stylistically the Torso is typical of the

post-modernist Italian furniture of the
early 1980s. Evoking the bold colours
and blowsy patterns of 1950s suburbia, it
celebrates the kitsch which had long
been derided by the rationalists who had
dominated modern design. Composed of
interchangeable parts it can be adapted to
meet the changing needs of its user and
some components, such as the optional
side table, gave it a remarkable
versatility for the time.
veranda
YEAR: 1983
Material: painted articulated tubular steel frame with
textile-covered polyurethane foam
The Veranda’s adjustable frame allows the

footrest to be folded under the seat when not
in used and the headrest to be folded down
to provide a low-back if required. The
design’s lithe form belies the strength
required to facilitate this degree of
flexibility.
Fiell, C., & Fiell, P. (2005). Vico Magistretti.1000 Chairs: Taschen 25. (pp.
kyoto
YEAR: 1983
Material: Terrazo= coloured mixed mosaic glass into
concrete, chrome plated steel.
In the 1980, Shiro Kuramata also designed

several pieces of furniture for Memphis, which
are notably more sophisticated and aesthetically
reticent than other designs produced by
Memphis. The Shiro Kuramata designs for
Memphis include the "Kyoto" (1983) table of
stained concrete and "Sally" (1987), a table made
of metal and broken glass.
http://www.deconet.com/decopedia/designer/1446/Shiro_Kuramata#
Richard iii chair
YEAR: 1983
Material: single shell moulded structure in rigid
structural polyurethane, finished with polyurethane
enamel in matte black or metallic silver.
An armchair and a conversation piece,

Richard III is a creative personification of
Shakespeare’s character, much like the
controversial reign of King Richard III, the
intriguing design and meticulous realization
of the armchair is heavily centered on duality
and paradox of its namesake; traditional vs.
modern, concave vs. convex, powerful vs.
delicate, glorious vs. shameful. The ‘stark’
contradictions of this armchair are so
complex that its mere presence in a room
makes it a focal point and denotes timeless
admiration.
http://www.eroomservice.com/furniture/richard-III-designer-armchair.html
Costes chair
YEAR: 1984
Material: Moulded laminated plywood in mahogany
on black-lacquered tubular steel frame. Seat
upholstered with foam.
This famous chair inspired by Philippe

Starck was originally designed for Cafe
Costes in Paris. It was designed with three
legs so that waiters at the cafe would not
have as many legs to trip over.
http://www.designicons.co.uk/costes-chair
Apple honey
YEAR: 1984
Material: Painted steel, chrome-plated tubular steel,
vinyl.
Apple Honey is a composition of draconic

geometrical basic forms, which nevertheless
remain completely independent, resulting in
functional furniture. While the square steel
framework stresses the static of the seat, the
tube, which becomes in the back the horizontal
semi-circle, plays with the movement of the
human body. With an inclination of exactly 45°
it breaks through the framework and reinforces
at the hind legs the most strongly stressed
connection of the construction. At the front edge
of the seat the framework remains open, so that
the pad offers a more comfortable support.
http://www.wwt.de/tourismus_englisch/stuhlstadtplan/stuehle/applehoney.html
How high the moon
YEAR: 1986
Material: epoxy coated nickel-plated steel
Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata's "How

High the Moon" offers a philosophical
meditation on the form of the chair. Here,
Kuramata cleverly toys with one of the
most iconic forms of Western furniture,
one that is almost unknown in traditional
Japanese design. "How High the Moon"
appears almost fragile, calling into
question its ability to support the weight
of the human body, and by extension
challenging the definition of the chair as a
functional furniture form.
Source: Shiro Kuramata: "How High the Moon" armchair

(1988.186) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The
Metropolitan Museum of Art
S-chair
YEAR: 1988
DESIGNER: tom dixon
Material: bent mild steel frame with either latex, rush
or woven cane seating section
Dixon’s favourite technique in the 1980s was

welding and the frame of this chair is welded
steel while the upholstery is made from rush.
At this point in his career, Dixon did not use
drawings, building the chair and altering and
changing the design as it was developed in his
studio. The name of the chair is a reference to
its sinuous shape which is like the letter
‘S’. The frame of this chair was the original
pattern for about 60 chairs made in Dixon’s
London workshop in the late 1980s.
http://www.apencilfulloflead.com/?p=2497
Crown chair
YEAR: 1988
DESIGNER: tom dixon
Material: welded steel and gold leaf
The flamboyant companion to Dixon’s S

Chair is the exuberant Crown Chair, which
he designed and made in the same year, using
the same self-taught welding process. Like
the S Chair and the late 1980ʹs work of
designers like Ron Arad and Phillippe
Starck, the Crown Chair trod a fine line
between art and design, sculpture and
furniture. This striking throne-like chair
fulfils the function of a seat but comes closer
to Dixon’s definition of art, because it can be
sat upon, but certainly not in comfort.
Dr. glob
YEAR: 1988
Material: tubular steel frame with polypropylene
seat/front leg section
Dr.Glob arose from the idea of combining

different materials to obtain greater structural
rigidity solidity while using an innovative
design approach. The texture, opacity and
thickness of the seat make Dr.Glob a true
master piece of style. All versions of Dr.Glob
chair are stackable.
http://www.stardust.com/drglob.html
Plywood chair
YEAR: 1988
DESIGNER: jasper morrison
Material: Constructed from plywood, glue and screws
”The main reason why Ply-Chair looks the

way it does today is that I had to make it
myself and the only tools available to me were
an electric compass saw and a number of
pieces of wood. I noticed a cushioning effect
when I used only a thin sheet of plywood for
the seat and bent the crossed strips underneath
it. To a certain extent this compensated for the
chair’s other less comfortable qualities.” -
Jasper Morrison.
Miss blanch
YEAR: 1989
Material: paper flowers cast in acrylic resin with tubular
aluminium legs
Created for KAGU Tokyo Designer's Week',

Kuramata’s sublime chair Miss Blanche, one of his
best-known works, was inspired by the corsage worn by
Vivien Leigh in the role of Blanche Dubois in the movie
version of 'A Streetcar Named Desire'. To create this
chair, he gathered various kinds of artificial flowers
from all over Japan and made models over and over
until he achieved the illusion that the flowers were
floating in space.
http://www.designophy.com/designpedia/design-product-1000000224-miss-
blanche.htm
silver
YEAR: 1989
Material: tubular aluminium frame with injection-
moulded polypropylene seat and back
As his inspiration, Magistretti took a 1920ʹs chair

designed by Marcel Breuer and manufactured by
Thonet in Austria. Originally an architecture student,
Magistretti turned to product and furniture design in
the late 40ʹs during Italy’s post-war drive of
reconstruzione. Typically he took an existing object as
his starting point and then rethought it by assessing
whether it could be improved with the use of modern
materials and production processes.
w.w. stool
YEAR: 1990
Material: Hard white maple veneers in 2"-wide, 1/34"-
thick strips laminated to 6- to 9-ply thickness with high-
bonding urea glue, clear plastic glides with matte frost
finish.
Starck described them as “surrealist or Dada

objects” intended to liberate the user “from the
humdrum reality of everyday life". Among them
was the W.W. stool, which was originally
designed by Starck as part of a fantasy
workspace for the German film director Wim
Wenders and named after him. The only object
in the room to go into production, this stool
seems to ignore all functional constraints by
barely providing a surface to be sat on.
Cross check chair
YEAR: 1990-1992
DESIGNER: frank ghery
Material: Hard white maple veneers in 2"-wide, 1/34"-
thick strips laminated to 6- to 9-ply thickness with high-
bonding urea glue, clear plastic glides with matte frost
finish.
Two years after receiving the Pritzker Prize -- "the

Nobel of architecture" – the designer released the
Gehry Collection (1990) for Knoll. Paying homage
to his Canadian roots, he named the pieces after ice
hockey terms; the wafer-thin strips of laminated
maple are bent, woven and curled into
featherweight yet sturdy forms, evoking the simple
strength of hockey sticks themselves.
http://www.dwr.com/product/designers/d-g/frank-o-gehry/gehry-cross-
check-armchair.do?sortby=ourPicks
Soft heart
YEAR: 1990
DESIGNER: ron arad
Material: Steel frame, polyurethane foam, fabrIC
Having studied architecture, Arad (1951-)

taught himself how to make furniture, initially
from found materials, in his London design
studio during the early 1980s before welding
exuberant forms from metals, such as steel and
aluminium, in limited editions of sculptural
furniture. Arad then developed mass-
manufactured versions of those forms as
upholstered pieces like Soft Heart.
LOUIS 20
YEAR: 1991
DESIGNER: PHILIPPIE STARCK
Material: Blown polypropylene, aluminium
The Louis 20 chair is the product of lengthy

technical experiments by Starck and the
engineers of Vitra, the Swiss office furniture
manufacturer. Eventually they succeeded in
combining a shell and two legs made from blown
polypropylene with an incongruous pair of
aluminium legs to add Starck’s inevitable joke.
AERON
YEAR: 1992
DESIGNER: Donald Chadwick and William Stumpf
Material: Recycled aluminium, polyester
The designers, Donald Chadwick and William

Stumpf, consulted numerous ergonomists and
conducted intensive consumer tests to ensure
that the Aeron was as adaptable – and as
comfortable – as possible for people of different
shapes and sizes. Among the Aeron’s defining
characteristics is its biomorphic, curvaceous
structure. As there are no straight lines in the
human body, Chadwick and Stumpf saw no
reason to add them to their chair.

Modern Furniture PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Modern Furniture PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

RED BLUE CHAIR

In the Red Blue Chair, Rietveld manipulated rectilinear

The End Table comprised of a blue square top and red

While teaching at the Bauhaus, Breuer often rode a bicycle, a

Unlike Stam’s S33, Marcel Breuer’s model no.

Influenced by Marcel Breuer's use of tubular steel, Mies van

Throughout the 1920s the German architect Mies van der

The name ‘Fauteuil Transat’ that appears in the portfolio

Among the classics this is perhaps the classic. Its ingeniously

Michael Breuer’s 1928 Cesca chair combined

Also known as the "Colonial Chair", Le Corbusier's

This chair epitomizes the International style. Originally

A wide choice of leather upholsteries in both quality and

The "chaise longue à réglage continu" – also known asB306

Inspired by a simple office chair, this swivel chair was

The Brno chair (model number MR50) is a modernist

In appearance, the Tugendhat chair is somewhat of a hybrid

When Alvar Aalto won the commission to design the Paimio

Originally designed for the Viipuri Library, these stools

Rietveld’s early work with wood reinforced his later

Prouve's inventive move from tubular steel, innovated by the

Intended for use in holiday homes, the Crate reflects the

When Marcel Breuer arrived in England as an exile from

The 1936 cart design was similar to the Paimio

Designed for the private residence of the Johnson Wax

Conceived as a variation on Alvar Aalto’s earlier laminated

When Hans Fischli, the architect of the 1939 Swiss National

The B.K.F. Chair—also known as the Hardoy Chair,

The NV-45 chair, a beautiful example of the fruitful

Using the same technology that led to the invention of their

The LCM Chair is one of a group of plywood chairs that was

In the early 1940s, after working all day on MGM set

Eero Saarinen designed with the human form in mind as the

This chaise longue was inspired by Gaston Lachaise's

The DAR Chair (DAR Dining Armchair Rod) is part of the

Plastic Armchairs were first presented as part of the

The “Y” chair, sometimes known as the

Jean Prouvé developed this classic icon of modern

The Antony chair was originally designed for the University

The Antelope chair embraced all the practical

The elliptical table is often referred to as the

Having concentrated on plywood seating when they

This ‘super-lightweight’ chair was inspired by the

Bertoia was at Cranbrook during the

Despite its minimalist and svelte form, the Ant

Noguchi studied sculpture in New York

The Series 7 Chair debuted in 1955 at the H55

Originally introduced by Herman Miller in 1955, the

Ease of travel in the jet age encouraged a

Sori Yanagi: "Butterfly" stool (model no. T-0521) (1988.195) | Heilbrunn

Most of the work of the Eames’ studio was

PK22 Easy Chair (1957) was inspired by the light,

The Nelson Marshmallow Sofa is a hallmark of modern

In a 1956 cover story in Time magazine,

Inspired by the ready-made sculpture of the early

Arne Jacobsen designed the SAS Royal Hotel

Before the Swan Chair (1958), Arne

The “Aluminium Group” was originally

The CSS was designed by

Sexy, sleek and a technical first – as the first

There can be few schools, factories and village

Eero Aarnio from Finland has a reputation for

One of the most commercially successful contract