Cool furniture, design objects and desiderata



mafoofan said:

What I am concerned with is pigeonholing ourselves into modernist design from just one particular era.

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Minding what you said above, how do you expect to do this? By putting four different, but in fact very similar chairs around a MCM table or by ignoring the original concept and using it differently?

I fully expected that all things would be rejected in favor of what you originally thought would work, however, it's enjoyable for me to talk about furniture, so here I am.

Most modernist designs are going to be similar to each other (and MCM-inspired) due to the use of simplified forms. I thought that was understood. It's certainly not a problem. However, within that range, we'd like to cover more bases. That's all. There is no need to imagine that we are looking to do something wildly surprising when all I've said is that we don't want to stick strictly to MCM.

Anyway, within the realm of modern design, I fail to see how you see the Chair One as anything similar to the Saarinen Tulip chairs. The only thing they have in common is the use of a pedestal base and synthetic materials.

Saarinen could not have dreamed of manufacturing the powder-coated titanium/aluminum seat of the Chair One.



mafoofan said:

The concrete Chair One is EIGHTY-FIVE pounds. Hmm.


The E&S is okay--but again, I really want to avoid legs. If I were going to pick a chair with legs, they'd need to look very light. The stacking version of the Chair One, for example.

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The retailer I looked at said 75 pounds, but 10 pounds plus minus isn't going to make a big difference, it's still fairly heavy, most girls I know can't lift a 55 pounds case of beer.

The E&S was for myself.

Apparently, it is 11 pounds for the aluminum seat and 74 pounds for the concrete base. At least, that's what Herman Miller tells me.

I had your intent differently, so thank you for clarifying.

I'm not sure if your posting that chair was to seek advice or simply to inform everyone on what you were doing, but I know better than to try and convince the foo of anything. I will offer the same bit of advice as I did in regard to the coffee table, continue your search and if you cannot pull yourself away from it then go ahead. Anything I own that has been something I've continued to enjoy over years was properly vetted in the beginning.

I don't expect everyone on here to have the same obsession with the designs of the bauhaus as I do, or the same interest in woodwork and wood veneer.

We've been thinking about the Chair One for years. It's not an impulse buy.



mafoofan said:

A one-bedroom, or a Bird chair? If you have a two-bedroom, Lesley and I are likely to kill you and your wife this weekend so we can assume your identities and live in it. Fair warning.

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the bird chair. We do not have a two bedroom, but rather a tiny one bedroom.

mafoofan said:

I'm too frightened to sit in it.

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it's not a Pylon chair.

mafoofan said:

From that quick look, you guys are probably a bit more eclectic than we are. We also shy away from all things post-modern.

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I wouldn't know how to categorize us.

SkinnyGoomba said:

LC3 is comfortable unless you try and sit upright. Down or poly?

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down

SkinnyGoomba said:

This is what both of you should buy:

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it's nice.

also, just visited the Cappellini store with the wife. She lamented the fact that our entire apartment isn't only Cappellini, because it's the rare place where most everything is superb.

Cappellini can be great, but I wouldn't want an all-Cappellini room. Everything they make has a distinct Cappellini aura. Maybe it's in the finishing.

A cool Cappellini table we are thinking of:



mafoofan said:

Saarinen could not have dreamed of manufacturing the powder-coated titanium/aluminum seat of the Chair One.

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Just curious--why not?

Powder coating is a little late for Saarinen (it would have existed, but the technique wasn't really ironed out and nobody had thought about using it on furniture yet), but the effect of powder coating on furniture really isn't that different than automotive style paints. Cost is a little lower and modern coatings are more durable and scratch/chip resistant than paint, but paint can be made to look just like powdercoat.

Cast aluminum in the form of the chair seems like it would have been doable in his time as well. TIG welding had been perfected too.

I don't think the public would have liked it (or that Saarinen would have actually come up with that styling), but I think it was possible to manufacture in 1956..



mafoofan said:

Cappellini can be great, but I wouldn't want an all-Cappellini room. Everything they make has a distinct Cappellini aura. Maybe it's in the finishing.

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to be fair, the style of stuff they make is extremely diverse. Sleek and subtle to outrageous are easy to achieve. It's hard for me to think of another company that does the range so well.


also:

Gome,

I have it in down as an armchair, love it. I'm gearing up to buy the 3 seater in down/medium brown for my study. I have a few things to get to first, then that.

the setup of ours is basically the armchair, but it lacks one of the sides (chair is same width overall). Really great as a lounge chair.


the ubiquity of the sofa has me kind of meh. Same thing with Saarinen tables, Barcelona chairs, and all things Eames. I realize that's a terrible excuse on my part, but whatevs.