Organic chair
The Organic Chair was developed in 1940 by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen as part of their contribution to the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York . The designs of the two designers won first prize in the competition.
history
Participation in the MoMA competition was the first collaboration between architects Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. Both had studied architecture , with Eames teaching design at the Cranbrook Academy of Art since 1939 . They submitted drawings of various designs for the competition. In addition to the armchair, they also designed a sofa and office furnishings. They did not produce prototypes in the original size, these were only created later. Part of their contribution were photos of models that were arranged in such a way that the judges assumed existing prototypes. Winning the MoMA Prize ensured that there was an interest in the series production of the designs.
The designs from 1940 were the starting point for various further developments by Saarinen and the Eames. In addition to the well-known Plywood chair from 1946, the Plastic chair (1950), Wire shell (1952) or the La Fonda chair by Eames are based on the earlier works. Saarinen developed the Tulip chair from this .
production
Like other designs by Saarinen and the Eames, the designs assumed production techniques that were not yet suitable for mass production. In the organic series, the connection between the legs and the seat shell could not yet be mass produced. In addition, the original producer Heywood-Wakefield had no free capacities due to World War II . During the war, the designers turned in other directions and made greaves and other items for the US Army. It wasn't until the end of the war that they began to concentrate on civil design again.
The production of the organic chair could not start in the United States until 1950 and was discontinued shortly afterwards. Vitra has been manufacturing the organic original and organic highback armchairs in Europe since 2006.
Collectibles
Originals of the Organic from the 1950s are collector's items and exhibited in museums. They are also traded on art auctions, where one was sold for $ 125,000. However, prices have been falling since the early 2000s. The trend continued with the start of series production at Vitra.
construction
The seat shell consists of a molded plywood plate and has an opening across the entire width at the transition between the lower part and the back. A polyurethane foam cushions the fabric-covered surface. The four straight legs, tapering downwards, were originally natural. In Vitra's production, they are made of black- stained ash wood . The armchair is 72.5 cm wide, 82.5 cm high and 67.5 cm deep.
The highback version has a higher backrest from which a neck support is formed. The seat is wider and deeper than the normal Organic. Overall, it is 85 cm wide, 107 cm high and 78.7 cm deep.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Sam Grawe: Chair up . In: Dwell, December 2007, p. 100ff.
- ^ A b Pat Kirkham 1998: Charles and Ray Eames: designers of the twentieth century . The MIT Press, ISBN 978-0262611398 , p. 210.
- ↑ Pat Kirkham 1998: Charles and Ray Eames: designers of the twentieth century . The MIT Press, ISBN 978-0262611398 , p. 207.
- ↑ Kimberly Elam 2006: Geometry of design: studies in proportion and composition. Princeton Architectural Press, ISBN 978-1568982496 , p. 70.
- ↑ Tanja Thomas, Fabian Virchow 2006: Banal Militarism: for the everydayization of the military in the civil. Transcript, ISBN 978-3-89942-356-3 , p. 376
- ↑ Product details of the Organic chair ( Memento of the original dated January 11, 2010 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. at vitra.com
- ↑ Product details of the Organic Highback ( Memento of the original from March 3, 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. at vitra.com
