It is not just something to sit on, it is the designer’s point of view in physical form, something that also reflects the spirit of the time it was made for, the technology that influenced its manufacture and the socio-cultural forces at play.
Why design another chair when the fundamental idea of seating has not changed since the rise of civilization. The legendary Danish designer Hans Wegner said, ‘The good chair is a task one is never completely done with’. It is not just something to sit on, it is the designer’s point of view in physical form, something that also reflects the spirit of the time it was made for, the technology that influenced its manufacture and the socio-cultural forces at play.
Studying the history of design through these classics builds a context to understand the state of design affairs today. More importantly, understanding the work of these great masters is itself an enriching experience.
Here’s a compact collection of ten pieces from 1860 to 1990 that are all-time greats and also in production till date in one form or another.
Lounge Chair Wood (LCW), Charles and Ray Eames, 1945
The Eameses had been working with three-dimensional moulding of plywood. Following some commissions from the army, they came up with an ingenious solution of splitting the seat base and backrest to overcome the complexity of moulding them as one shell with complex curves. Modularity was brought in and various combinations of these two along with the different footrests made in ply and steel made it highly customisable.
Grass-Seated Chair, George Nakashima, 1940
One of the earliest chairs from the master, the grass seated chair epitomizes the design philosophy of Nakashima, that of honesty of structure and craftsmanship and of quintessentially Japanese elegance.’The spirit of the tree lives on….
Round Chair, Hans Wegner, 1949
‘A chair has no backside, it should be beautiful’, said Wegner and spent an entire lifetime perfecting his philosophy. This chair, widely mentioned, as the world’s most beautiful chair is a timeless piece of perfect simplicity and elegance. His quest for improving traditional designs with a purity of structural form led to some pioneering work in design movements of the time.
Superleggera, Gio Ponti, 1957
He set out to create something that was bare minimum and uniquely classic at the cheapest possible price in a post World War II era. He took inspiration from a traditional chair used by fishermen. Over the years, he kept on perfecting the shape and finally managed a weight of around 1.7 kg. Apparently, Ponti tested it by throwing it out of an apartment on the fourth floor, the chair bounced like a ball without any breakage whatsoever.
Barcelona Chair, Mies Van Der Rohe, 1929
The chair was developed for the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona. The original ‘Less is more’ pioneer of modern day design, Mies has used simplicity and clarity yet arrived at a form that is opulent. One of his most celebrated works, the Barcelona Chair, reflects a lifelong mission to find a design language that represented the new era of technology and production.
Egg Chair, Arne Jacobsen, 1958
The egg chair was completely innovative in a sense there were no straight lines in the seating part. Designed for the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, the swan chair was Jacobsen’s chance to demonstrate the idea of integrated design and architecture. The unique form and understated elegance became instantly popular with this iconic sofa.
Paimio Lounge Chair, Alvar Aalto, 1931
Originally designed for the Paimio tuberculosis sanatorium, Aalto relied on a more natural material like wood to create a suppleness of sorts without compromising on rigidity after three years of experimentation on bent plywood. Without any upholstery the chair could offer comfortable seating and went very well with most modern decor, was cheap to manufacture in Finland and eventually set a tone for Scandinavian design on furniture.
B64, Marcel Breuer, 1929
One of the most popular chairs of all times and also one of the most copied of all times. B32 and its later adaptation with armrests, B64, was only one of the entire lot that came up with the post-war idea of using bent pipe for chairs. This version from Breuer was the most commercially successful. The two contrasting wooden frames with cane weave against the chrome-plated tube gives a natural warmth and lightness to the chair.
Chair No. 14, Michael Thonet, 1860
Considered the chair of chairs, No. 14 sold more than 50 million chairs by 1930. With this chair, Thonet shifted from laminated bentwood and glue to steam bending and fasteners. The chair made with six pieces of bentwood, 10 screws and two washers remains the most successful chair by sales volumes and number of copies and adaptations that follow to this day.
Zig Zag, Gerrit Rietveld, 1934
Described by Rietveld himself as a ‘Designer Joke’, this iconic austere design strives for extreme simplicity. To achieve this, the joinery needed was of extreme nature; dovetail joints, screws and wooden wedges in the corners. Zig Zag really remains one of the most radical forms in furniture design and challenges the visual invitation of seating with a reduction of form that is essentially a solid wood version of the cantilever bent pipe concept.