Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy

Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy (* 1914 in Buenos Aires ; † 1977 there ) was an Argentine architect and designer . He shaped urban planning and housing construction in the greater Buenos Aires area and other regions of Argentina within the Werkbund Austral.

Life

Ferrari-Hardoy studied at the "Escuela de Arquitectura" in Buenos Aires until 1937. He then traveled to Europe and spent some time in Paris with his fellow student Juan Kurchan. Inspired by Le Corbusier , who as a representative of CIAM had a particular interest in Latin America, both contributed to the urban development master plan for Buenos Aires. In addition to his work as an urban planner, Ferrari-Hardoy a. a. involved in the regulatory plans of Mendoza and San Nicolás and in 1944 in the reconstruction of the city of San Juan . From 1947 to 1951 he worked with Jorge Vivanco , the Argentine delegate of CIAM. Ferrari-Hardoy also worked as a lecturer at the "Escuela Industrial" in La Plata, the "Escuela de Arquitectura y Urbanismo de la Universidad del Litoral" and at the University of Buenos Aires .

Works

Ferrari-Hardoy belongs to the generation of Argentine architects who advocated the ideas of modernity. As a founding member of the Austral architecture group, he continued the work of the CIAM committees together with Juan Kurchan and the Catalan architect Antoni Bonet.

Grupo Austral

Austral developed trend-setting projects, discussed theoretical and practical aspects of contemporary architecture and took part in exhibitions, competitions and congresses. In addition, the members of the group actively sought the exchange of ideas and experiences with architects from other countries, published the magazine “Nosotros”, organized cultural events and involved painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, doctors, sociologists and educators in their work.

From 1937 the office u. a. commissioned with planning a university town on the site of the former port of Buenos Aires in Puerto Madero , residential buildings in the socially disadvantaged southern part of the city and the construction of hospitals, sports facilities and schools in the vicinity of the central Avenida Corrientes . Ferrari-Hardoy and colleagues attached great importance to the use of modular industrial elements, and they also used curved glass surfaces and sun visors, as demonstrated by the "Ateliers" (1938) on the corner of Suipacha and Paraguay. In the following years Ferrari-Hardoy worked closely with Juan Kurchan. From 1941 to 1944 they both designed a house in the Belgrano district, which became famous far beyond the country's borders thanks to a tree planted in the middle of the complex.

"Bat chair" or "Butterfly Chair"

Together with Bonet and Kurchan, Ferrari-Hardoy designed the lounge chair "BKF" in 1938, the original title of which was composed of the initial letters of its creator. It is still known today as the "bat chair" or "butterfly chair". The structure of the chair, which consists of four crossing points, is based on the Tripolina armchair designed by the English engineer Joseph Beverly Fenby in the 19th century . This combined leather with metal and was intended to promote the fusion of handicrafts and industrial production.

The “Butterfly Chair” was presented to the public for the first time in 1940 as part of the third “Salon de Artistas Decoradores”, an interior design fair in Buenos Aires. A short time later it was included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA, New York, 1941). In 1947 Knoll Associates obtained license rights to manufacture the chair in the USA. The sensation associated with the manufacture by a well-known manufacturer led to a sharp increase in unauthorized replicas; in the 1950s alone, over 5 million “Butterfly Chairs” are said to have been manufactured. After numerous legal disputes, Knoll stopped production in 1950. In the following decades the "Butterfly Chair" was reissued at regular intervals.

Web links

• The "Butterfly Chair" in the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy. In: arch INFORM .
2. ↑ Portrait of the architect and designer in the Knoll Museum ( Memento of the original dated August 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Hardoy's biography at Knoll ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.