chair

Reforming Play time -a Chair for Men


I have always found the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh to be among the most subtly inspiring and innovative works that I have seen.  Before I experienced the take-your-breath-away effect of seeing the whole of a Willow Tea room installed in a Mackintosh exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum in 1996, I was already drawn to individual elongated chairs, textiles and other design objects.
chair, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Mary MacDonald, May MacDonald, Miss Cranston, Argyle Street, Tea rooms, billiards, smoking, oak

New Material, New Form


This innovative stacking chair is arguably Danish designer Verner Panton’s best known work. While not the first cantilevered chair—Dutch designer Gerrit Rietveld’s 1934 wooden Zig-Zag chair is an earlier example—the Panton chair was the first cantilevered chair made from a single piece of injection-molded plastic. Its fluid organic shape is made to fit the human form.
Verner Panton, Herman Miller, chair, plastic, Denmark, furniture, Pop Culture

A Chair for the American Family


In 1951, Danish architect and designer Finn Juhl brought Danish Modernism to forefront of American consciousness. He did so with his interior for the “Good Design” Exhibition in Chicago, as well his design for the Trusteeship Council Chamber at the UN headquarters in New York, which he completed the following year. However, Juhl’s sculptural forms, praised as the height of modern design, were not only placed on display in prominent American arenas but were also integrated into American homes, bringing  European design to the average American consumer.
Finn Juhl, Danish Modernism, America, mass production, chair, Kaare Klint, Bauhaus, Baker Modern, Niels Vodder

Imperfect Beauty


Visionary, prophetic, subversive, and marginal all describe the Italian architect and designer, Gaetano Pesce, whose innovative experiments with materials and production methods transform common industrial materials into expressive shapes for objects, furniture, and interiors. For Pesce, designing is not so much about form or aesthetics as it is about the discovery of new materials and technological processes.
gaetano pesce, chair, Nobody's Perfect, plastic, I Separabili, furniture design

A National Design Award Winner


Although I never had the pleasure of meeting designer William Stumpf, who passed away shortly before winning the 2006 National Design Award for Product Design, I feel that he knew me. At work I sit in an Aeron chair, one of the most comfortable task chairs I have ever used and, arguably, Mr. Stumpf’s best-known design. The Aeron chair, designed by William Stumpf and Donald Chadwick, was introduced by the manufacturer Herman Miller, Inc. in 1994, and is still in production.
Aeron chair, William Strumpf, Donald Chadwick, National Design Award, ergonomics, chair

Cooper-Hewitt: Campana Brothers Select


On view February 15--September 28, 2008
Fernando Campana, Humberto Campana, Brazil, TransPlastic, chair, wicker, plastic rope, Vermelha, São Paulo, Exhibition, series

Object of the Month: Small Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia


Known primarily as a sculptor, Harry Bertoia designed the Small Diamond chair for Knoll between 1950 and 1952. During that time, rather than do conventional design research, Bertoia conceived of a series of side chairs and lounge chairs for mass production, made of wire mesh formed into seating shells. According to Bertoia, “In the chairs, many functional problems have to be satisfied first. . .
Object of the Month, chair, Small Diamond, Harry Bertoia, sculptor, Knoll

CCA to Launch an Interaction Design Program


I was in San Francisco last week to meet old friends from IDEO and Stanford, and while there I was privileged to give the inaugural lecture for the new Interaction Design Program at CCA (California College of the Arts).
California College of the Arts, CCA, Interaction Design, program, new, San Francisco, Bill Moggridge, Lecture, Kristian Simsarian, chair, digital, need

Bill Moggridge Wins Britain’s 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize


Bill Moggridge, director of Cooper-Hewitt, was awarded the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize Tuesday, Nov. 9. The U.K.’s most prestigious design prize is awarded annually to recognize a lifetime contribution to design.
Bill Moggridge, Director, Prince Philip Designers Prize, 2010, UK, U.K., Britain, award, winner, pioneer, 20th century, technology, education, contribution, Design Council, Prince Philip, chair, longest-running, Special Commendations

Scenes from Steelcase


Cooper-Hewitt’s Design Watch Members visited Steelcase for a private tour of the showroom and sunset reception on the terrace overlooking Columbus Circle.
Steelcase, visit, tour, Design Watch, members, showroom, trends, media, space, Convergence, furniture, technology, work, spaces, collaborative, Cobi, chair, feature, Exhibition, Why Design Now, Triennial, Eno, interactive, whiteboards, i2i, seating, solutions

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