Page 32 - Designing Ways 253

PULL UP
A CHAIR

Pull up a Chair

by Stienie Greyling

hat is a chair philosophy? handful have stood out for their ability to
A chair is an inanimate stand the test of time. From antique pieces
Wobject designed and that inspired modern interpretations, to
manufactured for the purpose of having original designs that remain as popular
humans sit on it. The idea of the chair today as when they were first introduced.
preceded its existence. The idea of the Some of these chairs that have made the
chair contains its purpose. Plato believed biggest impact on the design history:
that just as you have realised what a
chair is, so too can all humans do so by Tulip chair
thinking, by using their minds. This chair has been produced by Knoll
In the centuries prior to western since 1957.
industrialisation, stools and benches were
common household furnishings, but chairs Wishbone chair Tulip chair
were special occasion objects, usually In the 1940s Danish designer Hans
the exclusive property of the wealthy and Wegner created his own version of the
powerful. The era of mass manufacturing Ming chair incorporating a cured, bent- now available in a slew of upholstery and
in the 19th century and the rapid social wood armrest and the namesake back, finish options and continues to appear in
and economic chances that came with it, whose pronged wishbone shape allowed interiors around the world.
brought chairs into daily life for the first for a graceful silhouette.
time. Industrial jobs with their repetitive Navy chair
tasks required a seated posture, and the Ming chair Widely copied and produced, the
high demand for chairs that this created, Given that the Ming dynasty ruled original Navy chair was first introduced
in turn made them available and affordable China from 1368 to 1644, there is a wide by Pennsylvania brand EMECO in 1944
to middle class people in Europe and the range of furniture styles from the period. for use on warships.
United States of America.
As long as people have been furnishing Eames lounge chair Womb chair
homes, they have been designing and Herman Miller released the chair in First released in 1948 and continually
shopping for chairs. Over the centuries a 1956 in wood and black leather; it is produced by Knoll since then.

Wishbone chair Eames lounge chair

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