STĂœHLE designklassiker
Marlene Hainbucher Projekt, Februar 2013
Easy Edges
Egg Chair
dcw Chair
Paimio Chair
Eames Lounge Chair
Panton Chair
Thonet Stool No 14
STOOL N° 14 T
he No. 14 chair is the most famous chair made by
made by heating beechwood slats to 100 degrees Celsius,
the Thonet chair company. Also known as the bistro
pressing them into curved cast-iron molds, and then drying
chair, it was designed by Michael Thonet and introduced
them at around 70 degrees Celsius. The chairs could be
in 1859. It is made using a unique steam-bending techno-
mass-produced by unskilled workers and disassembled
logy, known as bentwood, that required years to perfect.
to save space during transportation.
With its affordable price and simple design, it became one
The No. 14 chair is widely regarded as a design classic. It
of the best-selling chairs ever made. Some 50 million No.
earned a gold medal when it was shown at the 1867 World
14s were sold between 1859 and 1930, and millions more
Exposition in Paris. It has been praised by many designers
have been sold since.
and architects, including Le Corbusier, who said „Never
Thonet’s No. 14 was made of six pieces of steam-bent
was a better and more elegant design and a more pre-
wood, ten screws, and two nuts. The wooden parts were
cisely crafted and practical item created.“
Designer M. Thonet (1796-1871)
Erscheinungsjahr 1859
Preis ab ~ 480 Euro
Besonderheit Bugholztechnik
PANTON CHAIR T
he Panton Chair is an S-shaped plastic chair created
material and in one continuous piece. It was first produced
by the Danish designer Verner Panton in the 1960s.
in 1965. In the mid-1960s, Panton met Willi Fehlbaum from
The world‘s first moulded plastic chair, it is considered to be
the furniture manufacturer Vitra who, unlike many other pro-
one of the masterpieces of Danish design.
ducers, was fascinated with the drawings of his legless chair
The idea of designing a stackable plastic chair was first ex-
in plastic rather than wood, the favoured material of the times.
pressed by the German architect Mies van der Rohe before
In 1968, Vitra initiated serial production of the final version.
the Second World War. From the early 1950s, Panton too had
The material used was Baydur. Finally, in 1999, Vitra used
dreamt of making a stackable plastic chair all in one piece.
polypropylene for manufacturing the Panton Plastic Chair in
In 1956, he designed the S Chair which can be considered a
a variety of colours. Perhaps the chair‘s most famous ap-
forerunner of the Panton Chair. He saw it as an item of furniture
pearance was in January 1995, when it was featured on the
in which the back, seat and legs were made of the same
cover of the British edition of Vogue.
Designer W. Panton (1926-1998)
Erscheinungsjahr 1859
Preis ab ~ 210 Euro
Besonderheit aus nur einem St端ck Kunststoff produziert
LOUNGE CHAIR T
he Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman are fur-
design. The chair has become iconic with Modern style de-
nishings made of molded plywood and leather, de-
sign although when it was first made Ray Eames remarked
signed by Charles and Ray Eames for the Herman Miller
in a letter to Charles that the chair looked „comfortable and
furniture company. They were released in 1956 after years
un-designy“. Charles‘s vision was for a chair with „the
of development by designers. It was the first chair the Ea-
warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman‘s mitt.“
meses designed for a high-end market. Examples of the-
The chair is composed of three curved plywood shells. In
se furnishings are part of the permanent collection of New
modern production the shells are made up of seven thin
York‘s Museum of Modern Art. The Eameses focused first on
layers of wood veneer glued together and shaped under
usability in their designs and constantly made use of new
heat and pressure. This differentiates the newer chairs from
materials. In addition to the style, the Eames Lounge Chair
the „original“ chairs which used Brazilian rosewood veneers
is very comfortable, a combination not always found in high
and were constructed of five layers of plywood.
Designer C. und R. Eames (1907-1978) (1912 - 1988)
Erscheinungsjahr 1956
Preis ab ~ 1600 Euro
Besonderheit Schichtholzschalen meist aus Palisander
PAIMIO CHAIR F
rom the very beginning of his career Alvar Aal-
design of the chair may have been influenced by Marcel
to experimented with materials, especially wood,
Breuer‘s metal Wassily Chair, though Aalto was generally
and even applied for patents for the bending of wood as
negative towards metal furniture. The degree of bending of
applied in his furniture designs and as acoustic screens
the wood tested the technical limits of that time. The chair is
in his buildings. The Aaltos designed several different ty-
part of the permanent collections at the MoMA in New York
pes of furniture and lamps for the Paimio Sanatorium. The
and the Finnish Design Museum. The frame of the chair is
best known of the furniture pieces is his cantilevered birch
laminated birch bent into a closed curve with solid birch
wood Paimio Chair, which was specifically designed for
cross-rails. The seat is molded from one piece of birch ply-
tuberculosis patients to sit in for long hours each day. Aal-
wood and is offered in two high-shine laminate colors. The
to argued that the angle of the back of the chair was the
springy plywood fixed on a closed frame was Aalto‘s 1931
perfect angle for the patient to breathe most easily. The
brainstorm for making a wooden chair „soft“.
Designer A. Aalto (1898–1976)
Erscheinungsjahr 1932
Preis ab ~ 3000 Euro
Besonderheit Winkel von Sitzfläche zur Lehne
DCW CHAIR T
his molded plywood chair with compound
them from the US Navy. In 1941 the Museum of Modern
curved seat and back and rubber shock mount
Art held a competition organized by Eliot Noyes to disco-
was designed by Charles Eames and produced by the
ver imaginative designers for contemporary living. Prizes
Herman Miller Furniture Company. The original concept
were awarded to Eames for the dcw chair. Once the chair
was conceived by Charles Eames in collaboration with
had only three legs, and problems of stability discouraged
architect Eero Saarinen in 1940. In 1937, Eames had
mass production. Early LCW (Low Chair-Wood) and DCW
become head of the department of experimental design at
(Dining Chair-Wood) designs with four wooden legs were
Cranbrook Academy, and worked with Saarinen investi-
first produced in 1946. Later versions with metal legs were
gating plastics and furniture. Out of these efforts, Eames
produced in 1951. Matching dining and coffee tables were
developed laminated and molded plywood splints, called
also produced. It was selected as „best design of the
Eames Splints, and in 1941 received an order for 5000 of
century“ by Time magazine in 1999.
Designer A. Aalto (1898–1976)
Erscheinungsjahr 1932
Preis ab ~ 3000 Euro
Besonderheit Winkel von Sitzfläche zur Lehne
EGG CHAIR T
he Egg is a chair designed by Arne Jacobsen in
production of the Egg couch, besides the wish for exclu-
1958 for the Radisson SAS hotel in Copenhagen,
sivity, is the difficulty involved in making it, plus a design
Denmark. It is manufactured by Republic of Fritz Hansen.
flaw. According to a New York Times article, the Egg chair
The Egg was designed in a typical Jacobsen style, using
has also been used by McDonald‘s as part of a high-
state-of-the-art material. It is believed to be inspired by
concept redesign of his restaurants. The newly renovated
Eero Saarinen‘s „Womb chair“, from which it borrows
Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport features
some traits. Related to the Egg is the Swan chair and, to
the Egg in its boarding area. The Egg chair is made of
some degree, many of Jacobsen‘s plywood chairs. The
polyurethane foam and has a loose seat cushion. The tilt
Egg (like the Swan) was also designed as a couch. While
mechanism is made of steel tubing and sprung steel and
the Swan couch is still in production, only a handful of Egg
has a tilt handle made of polished stainless steel.
couches have ever been made. The reason for the limited
Designer A. Jacobsen (1902-1971)
Erscheinungsjahr 1958
Preis ab ~ 995 Euro
Besonderheit der Ohrensessel besteht nur aus Kurven
WIGGLE CHAIR E
asy Edges is the name given to a series of furniture
give the surface of the chair an interesting texture. The flat
designs by Frank Gehry from 1969 to 1973. In the
sides of the chair are covered with hardboard. The Wiggle
1960s a trend for cheap and lightweight materials led to
Chair is made of corrugated cardboard. Multiple sheets
experiments with using cardboard in furniture design. The
are glued together in alternate directions creating a material
designer and architect developed a cardboard material
similar to plywood. Previous experiments using cardboard in
called ‚edge board‘ that used multiple layers of corrugated
furniture design had been abandoned because the material
cardboard glued together to make it strong enough to be
was not sufficiently durable. This design solution, an innova-
practical. The Wiggle Chair is designed using this innovative
tion of Frank Gehry‘s, allowed the creation of robust furniture
material. The Wiggle Chair is named for the fluid bend sha-
and sculptural designs. The Wiggle Chair was designed to
pe that supports the seat. The edges of the multiple card-
be mass produced. It can still be bought today but it is very
board sheets create interesting and unusual patterns, and
expensive, despite the cheap materials!
Designer F. Gehry (1902-1971)
Erscheinungsjahr 1973
Preis ab ~ 700 Euro
Besonderheit aus Wellpappe und trotzdem äuĂ&#x;erst stabil