Tolix.

This is the Tolix A chair, designed by French entrepreneur Xavier Pauchard in 1934.

They are available as chairs, armchairs, benches, stools... in galvanized steel, perforated... in multiple versions.

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of metal chairs; but I do like industrial esthetics. Moreover, I've been seing Tolix chairs all over restaurants and cafés lately and I must admit I'm beginning to like these colorful chairs.

Although, I'd prefer them in grey tones, because I think (in my humble opinion) they're better put as "rough" metal with wood and other neutral colours, such as darker greys, black and white.

More information at Tolix.

Image credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Tom Vac.

Ron Arad designed the Tom Vac chair in 1999. It is composed by a plastic seat shell (with additives that prevents sun bleaching) and steel legs. It can be stacked up to 5 chairs in order to save space.

It's so versatile that it fits in a lot of environments, as an individual or a group; in shops, offices, homes, restaurants, cafés... indoors or outdoors! 

I've never had the opportunity to seat on one of those, but they seem so comfortable as the seat is wide enough to seat relaxedly. This powerful black above is so chic and elegant!

I'm in love with this last photo, this group of Tom Vac chairs seem like white flower petals flowing around the patio. I would definitely have some of these at my courtyard (if I had one!). 

Images from Vitra.

No. 14.

"It consists of six pieces of wood - two circles, two sticks and a couple of arches - held together by 10 screws and two nuts. Together they make the wooden chair known as Thonet Model No.14, which although no one has ever actually done the math, is thought to have seated more people than any other chair in history."

This is how the great NYTimes article of the Thonet No. 14 starts.

It was produced by Michael Thonet in 1859, and it is also known as Bistro Chair. He wanted to achieve an affordable chair with a simple design. He won the gold medal in the 1867 World Exposition in Paris for this incredible chair.

It was all studied to save space in transportation, a box of 1 cubic metre could contain 36 disassembled Thonet No. 14 chairs.

Numerous designers have customized these chairs; just a coat of paint can transform it and match so many differents styles.

Image credits: B&W, Box, Fluo

Butterflies.

The BKF chair is named after Antonio Bonet, Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, three Argentinian architects working for the Austral Group. It's also known as Hardoy chair (it is said that Hardoy was the main designer), Butterfly chair... It was made in Buenos Aires in 1938, and it was an update of the Tripolina chair. In 1940 the chair was shown at an exhibition and was discovered by MoMA.

These are some of the pictures that inspire me the most. Both leather and canvas; both indoor and outdoor... this chair is amazing!

Image credits:

- Leather chairs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

- Canvas chairs: 6, 7, 8, 9

Panton chair.

Verner Panton was a Danish designer who lived most of his life in Switzerland. He was really interested in plastic (a new material back then) and wanted to create a comfortable chair in only one piece. He contacted Vitra in 1963 as his manufacturer, and launched the chair in 1967. 

Like the original ones, the Panton Chair Classic is available with a black, white or red laquer.

 

Nowadays, we can also purchase the Panton Chair in dyed plastic and matt surface.

It's one of my all time favourite chairs. I really love its shape and the way it fits you. It's a really comfortable chair and matches with lots of differents styles because of the shape itself and the wide variety of colours.

Images from Vitra.

Danish hotel furniture.

These three pieces of furniture were designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1958 for the Radisson SAS Hotel in Copenhagen. Jacobsen designed the hotel, its furniture, its cutlery...

From left to right: Drop Chair, Swan Chair, Egg Chair.

Lots of his designs have been replaced, but there's still one room (606, which is available for booking) with the original furniture upholstered in green and the wood pannels.

I totally love the curvy shapes of these pieces and the wide variety of upholstery. They look great as a perfect reading lounge chair like in this last picture.

 Images: Drop chair, Swan and Egg chair.

Easy Edges.

Frank O. Gehry designed a series of furniture designs called “Easy Edges” from 1969 to 1973, altough not all the pieces have been manufactured. These designs are made of multiple layers of corrugated cardboard (in alternate directions) assembled with hidden screws. To make it more durable the edges are covered with fibreboard.

 

Probably the most famous piece of the whole collection is the wiggle side chair (also with coloured-fibreboard edgings) because of its characteristic shape.

 

Dining table and side chairs.

Low table, side tables and daisy coffee table.

Wiggle stool and  R bar stool.

Rocking chair.

Lounge chair with ottoman.

The use of this material is a really good idea; it’s cheap, lightweight, and easy to make different shapes. It’s quite surprising that a material such as cardboard is able to bear us.

Images: wiggle chair; coloured wiggle chair; dining set; low tables, stools and rocking chair; lounge chair with ottoman.

The organic chair. Part II

After launching the Organic Chair in 1940, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen continued to think about a chair with an organic shaped seat. Saarinen made the Tulip Chair; Charles and Ray Eames the Plastic Side Chair.

It was made in 1950 for the Moma's "Low-Cost Furniture" competition. Charles and Ray Eames tried to cover many types of use: there are five different bases (Wire base, Steel tube base, Wooden base, stackable aluminium base and height-adjustable), and the plastic seat shell can be upholstered.

Eames made also the armchair, which has the same types of bases and seat shells, and a rocking armchair too.

These chairs have become icons of furniture due to their wide variety of uses: home, offices, restaurants, airports, sports stadiums... In addition, the fact that there are multiple colours to choose from gives even more personality to the combinations. There were made of fiberglass plastic in their beginnings; the latest version is made of polypropylene.

All images from Vitra.

The organic chair. Part I

In 1940, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen made this reading chair for the NY Moma's competition "Organic Design in Home Furnishings". Due to the lack of techniques, it couldn't go into series production; it was made with plywood and foam rubber. It was impossible to shape seats with organic forms and make large quantity of them, until the 1950s. They continued to develop the idea of an organic seat, could molde them in fiberglass and finally manufactured them.

In his further development for the organic seat, Eero Saarinen made the famous Tulip Chair, in 1956. The resemblances with the previous chair are clear, but he put just one leg. He achieved his ideal of formal unity: "every piece of furniture from the past has a holistic structure".

He won the 1969 Moma's award with the tulip chair. He also did the armchair, stool and table.

Images: Organic Chair from Vitra. Tulip Chair from Knoll.