Tulip chair
| Tulip chair | |
|---|---|
| Designer | Eero Saarinen |
| date | 1956 |
| country | United States |
| material | Aluminum , fiberglass , leather |
| style | Modern |
| Manufacturer | Knoll |
| height | 80 cm |
| width | 50 cm |
| depth | 56 cm |
| colour | various |
The Tulip chair ( German tulip chair ) was designed by the Finnish designer Eero Saarinen in 1955 for the Hans Knoll company in New York.
description
The Tulip Chair is part of a series of chairs, armchairs, tables and side tables that Eero Saarinen developed within five years. A characteristic of this series is the reduction of the load-bearing structure to a central support foot, like a wine glass, in order to emphasize the uniformity of the form in the table and chair. The chair has the smooth lines of modernity and was made in materials that were experimental at the time. The chair series is now considered a classic in industrial design. It was also sold in Germany by the Hans Knoll branch in Stuttgart.
history
Eero Saarinen had hoped to produce the chair entirely from glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) in one piece , but the material at that time was not able to withstand the forces acting on a chair. The first series produced in 1956 were prone to breakage. As a result, the lower part of the Tulip chair was reinforced by aluminum with a Rilsan-coated surface and the GRP shell was placed on top, which, however, gave the appearance of a chair made in one piece. The upper shell was provided with upholstered foam cushions that can be removed with Velcro.
In the late 1960s, the Tulip chair became famous through the Star Trek TV series . The chairs for the scenes on the navigating bridge have been slightly modified. After the series was shot, most of the facility was disposed of in dumpsters. An original Star Trek tulip chair was later put up for auction in Hollywood and sold for $ 18,000.
A Tulip Armchair Model 150 has been in the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) since 1958 . The Tulip Chair is still in production today.
Awards
- Design Center Stuttgart Award 1962
- Museum of Modern Art Award 1969
- Federal Award for Industrial Design 1969
Individual evidence
Web links
- Tulip armchair on knoll.com
- Sketch of the armrest version
