Figura (office chair)
Figura is an office swivel chair designed in 1984 by the Italian designer and architect Mario Bellini and his colleague Dieter Thiel for the Swiss company Vitra AG . The chair was used from 1992 to 1999 in a special version for the seating of the new plenary hall of the German Bundestag in the Bundeshaus in Bonn . As part of the redesign of the Berlin Reichstag building , it was also installed there. For the chairs used in the Reichstag, the British architect Norman Foster chose the distinctive special color Reichstag blue , which he had trademarked and which has since determined the appearance of the plenary hall.
description
The Figura is an office swivel chair on a base made of aluminum and steel with five castors in the standard version. The seat and back are made of plywood , which is upholstered with polyester fibers from the Trevira CS brand . A cover made of leather or textile fabric is applied to it. The chair has a height of ninety centimeters to the top edge of the backrest and a width and depth of seventy centimeters each. At the side there are bow-shaped armrests that can be made of different materials.
history
From 1979 to 1984 the Italian designer Mario Bellini and his colleague Dieter Thiel designed several office chairs for the Swiss furniture manufacturer Vitra AG . These included the Persona and Figura office swivel chairs introduced in 1984 . At the time, the design of office chairs was generally geared towards showing the customer the multitude of adjustment options. With their two designs, Bellini and Thiel followed up on Bellini's earlier designs for office technology by Olivetti , in which he had given the products an appealing and less machine-like design.
The Figura is based on the Vitramat office chair in the Vitra range. Bellini and Thiel gave their design an elegant appearance with a newly designed upholstery. The constricted waist of the backrest is modeled on the 932 Quartet armchair designed by Bellini in 1965 for Cassina SpA , whose four elements seat, side rests and backrest are apparently held together by a wide belt. However, Figura looks much simpler than the 932's shape, which was influenced by Pop Art . The upholstery can be removed for cleaning or to change colors. The chair was offered in a single color, like the later seating in the plenary halls of the German Bundestag, as well as in contrasting colors of the belt and the seat and backrest.
Comments for the German Bundestag
New plenary hall of the German Bundestag
In October 1992 the new plenary hall in the Bundeshaus in Bonn was opened . The seating was realized with Figura office chairs , which can be rotated on pillars. The first six rows of seats in a circle have a desk, and the chairs belonging to them can be moved forwards and backwards on rails in the floor. In the rear seats without a desk, the chairs are rotatably mounted in a sleeve anchored in the floor. The reference is generally referred to as royal blue and should avoid the "political colors" black, red, yellow and green in the political landscape of the time with CDU / CSU, SPD, FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen. The color is similar to the light tone of the English royal blue . The armrests are made of light wood. The new plenary hall including the interior is a listed building, so the seating has been preserved to this day.
Plenary hall in the Reichstag
The British architect Norman Foster designed a plenary chamber for the Reichstag building , which was mostly light gray. In addition to the carpet, the exposed concrete pillars and the back wall of the presidium, which is partly covered with fabric, the seating should also be covered with gray textile. In addition, Foster wanted to use chairs in a different shape and from a different manufacturer. The question of color was particularly controversial. The SPD MP Peter Conradi criticized the coloring proposed by Foster: "Gray men with gray hair in gray suits on gray armchairs in front of gray tables on a gray carpet and all around gray walls - who doesn't get the horror." Foster's design and several alternatives Chairs in different shapes and colors and from different manufacturers were finally set up on a test field. The planning and construction commission of the Bundestag appointed by the Council of Elders , the then President of the Bundestag Rita Süssmuth and Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl examined the solutions. Foster's design was rejected in favor of the Vitra Figura chairs, which had already proven themselves in the New Plenary Hall in Bonn .
The Danish designer and artist Per Arnoldi was brought in in 1996 in response to the criticism of the client by Foster to develop a color concept for the Reichstag. His primary task was to suggest painting the doors and other surfaces planned by Foster in gray for the wooden panels with a lamellar surface structure that were installed in the lower wall area of the meeting rooms for acoustic reasons. From Arnoldi's colors, Foster chose a deep blue shade for the seating that was slightly violet, which he named Reichstag Blue . The armrests, unchanged in shape, are now covered in black plastic. In the plenary hall, the strong blue should harmonize with the natural stone surfaces as well as with the numerous gray tones of the walls, floor coverings and tables. A major consideration was its suitability for television recording and broadcasting. The decision on the twelve strong colors proposed by Arnoldi, including the color of the seating, was made in March 1998 in agreement with the building commission.
The interior of the Reichstag is part of Norman Foster's redesign. Foster believes that it is protected by copyright as part of the work of art he has created and that any change, including hanging pictures on the walls, requires his consent. The seating and its color is also part of the contract, and Foster has protected the Reichstag blue .
The design of the chairs in the plenary hall of the German Bundestag differs in some points from the standard model. According to the manufacturer, the cover is made of “high quality and durable wool”. In 2016, the replacement of the covers for the entire seating cost 700,000 euros. Even in the Reichstag, the chairs of the members of parliament have only one column anchored in the floor. The chairs in the first rows of the plenum, where the seats are equipped with desks, are movably mounted on rails, as in the Bundeshaus in Bonn. The seats can be pulled out so that obese MPs can sit comfortably. Some chairs, such as those of the Federal Chancellor and the President of the Bundestag, are characterized by a higher backrest. The chairs of the presidium can be moved freely on castors. If two more workplaces are set up in addition to the four stenographers, these are also equipped with Figura office swivel chairs on castors. The workstations of the stenographers are only equipped with round stools with a cover in Reichstag blue . The seating can be dismantled with little effort in individual cases, especially for members of parliament in wheelchairs.
Vitra AG produces the office chairs for the German Bundestag in Weil am Rhein . The company claims to have "taken long-term precautions" to maintain and expand the seating. The Figura is no longer included in the company's sales range .
Prizes and awards
The Figura received several design awards in the first ten years after its market launch :
- German selection by the Design Center Stuttgart (1985, Persona and Figura office chairs for Vitra AG);
- Made in Germany Award (1985, Persona and Figura office chairs );
- ID Magazine Award Annual Design Review (1985);
- Resources Council Award (1986);
- Red Dot Design Award for High Design Quality (1994).
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Cara McCarty: Mario Bellini. Designer . The Museum of Modern Art, New York 1987, ISBN 0-87070-224-6 , pp. 66-68 and 76, digitized version , PDF, 13.7 MB.
- ↑ a b c d What you did not know about the blue chairs in the Bundestag , Focus Online , September 23, 2017, accessed on March 26, 2020.
- ↑ a b c Ralf Schönball: As if you had always been here. 10 years seat of government , Der Tagesspiegel , April 19, 2009, accessed on March 26, 2020.
- ^ Per Arnoldi: Reichstag Berlin, 1999. Color Concept . In: same: “Color is Communication”. Selected Projects for Foster + Partners 1996> 2006 . Birkhäuser, Basel 2007, ISBN 978-3-7643-7503-4 , pp. 45-78.
- ↑ Hans Wilderotter : "A symbol of democracy": the Reichstag building since 1991 . In: German Bundestag (ed.): The German Bundestag in the Reichstag building , self-published, Berlin 2018, pp. 264–272, digital version , PDF, 12.7 MB.
- ↑ Petra Bornhöft: Violent eye flickering. Politicians and officials find the interior of the Reichstag neither beautiful nor practical. But architect Foster does not want to have his work of art changed , Der Spiegel 47/1999 of November 22, 1999, accessed on March 26, 2020.
- ↑ a b c d e Figurafrom Mario Bellini's website , accessed March 26, 2019.
