Is modern design really about function or form? The endless debate and the amount of opinions amongst designers and consumers regarding the “right” way to approach design are probably infinitive. In different countries, between different design methods approaches one can find several different opinions, but lately it is quite safe to declare that ergonomics and user’s comfort are of the leading objectives in furniture design in the 21st century. In that case, the famous thesis of architect Louis H. Sullivan “form follows function” was actually one of today’s design visions.
The “Chair one” designed by Konstantin Grcic (Germany) in 2004 for Magis (Italy), created a twist in that main stream of modern mass productive chairs market. Using aluminum casting that is mainly used to produce structural components for furniture, and making the whole chair, or rather most part of it was cast as one piece of aluminum. The result as Grcic describes it is “like a large basket, the seat shell, which is mounted on four extruded legs or other types of support, like cement.” The final form of the “Chair one” is a very unique and unusual structure in the common furniture design modern line, while most objects turn to new polymers that adjust the human body form and allows long lasting and comfortable sitting, this innovative chair takes us back to a natural material, aluminum, combined with a rough industrial element, cement, that together create an odd, unusual, and “main stream rebel” form of a chair.
The chair one does not seem to be comfortable, or too stable with its small cement diameter base. It does not possess any arm, back or head supporting elements, so what does give it the fame and success that he received, becoming one of the most famous chairs in modern furniture design? Is it a case of “function follows form” and Sullivan’s thesis is only a suggestion? Are we as human beings desire the image of the form more than its function?
“Chair one”, as I see it, is an experiment, the use of the triangular form, the strongest form as a structural element, a very brutal and aggressive shape, and to use this shape in an object that needs to be comfortable, and usually organic shaped. The choice of materials, colors and combination of triangular shapes, all contradict the product basic usage – an object to sit on comfortably for a period of time, and hopefully lives in harmony with the rest of the elements surrounding it (inside a house or a public place). The “Chair one” is considered to be a major success as a chair, both in the private consuming market, each individual for his own house, and also in the industrial market (airports, hotels, bars.etc.). But its success is greater than the visual aspect of where it is situated and how many of it was sold, this chair opened a new way of looking at forms, materials and exiting the fast highway of the modern design mainstream that easily pulls you in. “Chair one” gives us the opportunity to see how connections become the main part, how we can involve the industrial materials in the ergonomic conception and how modern design is not to be defined this way or the other.
The “Chair one” designed by Konstantin Grcic (Germany) in 2004 for Magis (Italy), created a twist in that main stream of modern mass productive chairs market. Using aluminum casting that is mainly used to produce structural components for furniture, and making the whole chair, or rather most part of it was cast as one piece of aluminum. The result as Grcic describes it is “like a large basket, the seat shell, which is mounted on four extruded legs or other types of support, like cement.” The final form of the “Chair one” is a very unique and unusual structure in the common furniture design modern line, while most objects turn to new polymers that adjust the human body form and allows long lasting and comfortable sitting, this innovative chair takes us back to a natural material, aluminum, combined with a rough industrial element, cement, that together create an odd, unusual, and “main stream rebel” form of a chair.
The chair one does not seem to be comfortable, or too stable with its small cement diameter base. It does not possess any arm, back or head supporting elements, so what does give it the fame and success that he received, becoming one of the most famous chairs in modern furniture design? Is it a case of “function follows form” and Sullivan’s thesis is only a suggestion? Are we as human beings desire the image of the form more than its function?
“Chair one”, as I see it, is an experiment, the use of the triangular form, the strongest form as a structural element, a very brutal and aggressive shape, and to use this shape in an object that needs to be comfortable, and usually organic shaped. The choice of materials, colors and combination of triangular shapes, all contradict the product basic usage – an object to sit on comfortably for a period of time, and hopefully lives in harmony with the rest of the elements surrounding it (inside a house or a public place). The “Chair one” is considered to be a major success as a chair, both in the private consuming market, each individual for his own house, and also in the industrial market (airports, hotels, bars.etc.). But its success is greater than the visual aspect of where it is situated and how many of it was sold, this chair opened a new way of looking at forms, materials and exiting the fast highway of the modern design mainstream that easily pulls you in. “Chair one” gives us the opportunity to see how connections become the main part, how we can involve the industrial materials in the ergonomic conception and how modern design is not to be defined this way or the other.
1 comment:
Sophomore year each one of us designed a chair. We read a lot of books. one of the book was written by Galen Cranz "The Chair" pointed out that men are not ment to be sited. Human being are design to walk, spring, and lay down. Yes the ergonomic is extremely important when designing a product. But the product itself might not be able to be ergonomic from the starting point. Chair is one of them. It is interesting to see the "Chair One" chair. I got the feeling that Konstantin Gracic designed the chair starting by finding the material. What i mean was Gracic designed the chair starting by using the material to design it rather than using the ideas of form follows function.
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