Blog Design: More Than Just A Chair...

 I LOVE

Chairs!

Have you ever sat in a chair that just evoked childhood memories, made you feel warm and comfy like you were being embraced in a big hug- Material that caressed the skin, a shape that molds to your body and supports you in all the right ways- OR just to gaze and admire something that is balanced perfectly, pleases the eye and makes you feel at ease...???

Let's just get it out of the way right off the bat.... I LOVE Chairs. Geeky? Maybe... But, part of the whole journey is to find what brings you pleasure and just embrace it! I love art and ALL things designed well. Chairs are pieces of art and if a great design, form and function come together in a compact form that lends itself to appeal to all of the senses.

My Favorite Chair.....

When I saw a knock off of my favorite chair... I had such mixed emotions. On one hand, all good things are emulated, copied or knocked off in one way or another. Some say it's a form of flattery. On the other hand, even though I enjoy a bargain... Some things deserve to be paid for at full price. I did have a slight flair of indignancy when I saw the copy that was a lesser version of the Cherner Chair. Although I have never owned this chair, it is an amazing piece of art. I can see using a grouping of them and hanging them on a wall... in the right space. Ahhhh....

What I really want you to know is that when you see a chair, that it's style and design stands alone. Like a couture dress that you might find on the runways in Paris or on the pages of Vogue Magazine - the dress's grandiose design, that is more creativity than functional wear... sets the lines, color and style for an entire product line of ready to wear and off the rack pieces of clothing. As soon as it debuts on the runway or on some star prancing down the red carpet, it is being knocked off, recreated and emulated in workrooms around the world. The same holds true for furniture and other types of design.

Chairs go through a similar metamorphosis. It starts as a concept and evolves over time. The really good designs or design elements have longevity and make up even the simplest seat that you use everyday. As far
back as can be documented, chairs were created for style and status... something to be visually pleasing. Egyptian nobility had chairs to show status and provide them comfort that the commoners could not afford. This elaborate chair could fold and be portable... just like our current beach chairs.



Napoleon designed spaces and furniture for Josephine. He was instrumental in the design of furniture during his time and those styles have endured. Napoleon borrowed styles and accents from different cultures and eras to make pieces that were uniquely his and that he could bestow to his precious Josephine. The swan was what Josephine chose as her personal emblem and it embellished her furniture, just as the bee adorned Napoleons. This is a photo of a current chair reminiscent of the originals that Napoleon had cabinet makers create for Josephine's dressing room.


The thought, care and creativity that goes into each chair is often as involved as a creating a building. A chair: a compact culmination of art and design. It may have originally been thought up by a modern architect with famous designs on his resume. In researching this post I ran across more than 120 architects that had designed at least one famous piece of furniture.

Here are just a few examples of modern architects that created chairs...

 Alvar aalto was a famous modern architect who created the chair on the left in 1930. You may recognize the chair on the right sold today in Ikea.

The most famous architect on my list is Frank Lloyd Wright. He designed within the Craftsman style and created furniture, glassware, silverware and just about everything else that filled his famous homes. His furniture has stood the test of time and is still sold in many reincarnations. His foundation has done the best job of keeping the original design integrity intact. Current furniture manufacturers carry Frank Lloyd Wrights original designs. They are   licensed and controlled carefully. These designs are from the 1940's

Eero Saarinen designed the Saint Louise Gateway Arch shown on the left. He is also a huge part of the the Modernism furniture and design Movement that was lead by Knolls and Eames. He contributed the Tulip Chair and Table. They are still in production today.  This style is used constantly even though it was created in the 1950's. The table was featured in one of my posts July 17th Kimberly R. Lifestyle by Design


AND 
...back to my favorite chair...

Fun Fact and Introduction of an American Designer

As I've stated... Many monumental designers in history designed in more than one arena. You will find a good designer will have been an architect, furniture designer, fabric designer, often painter, artist, author and more.

When you see a chair... It is rarely just a chair. It has a history!

My favorite chair's popularity soared when it appeared in Norman Rockwell’s 1961 painting “The Artist at Work” on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Just FYI... I did not know that when I fell in love with this chair.

Norman Cherner      

USA (1920-1987) A pioneer both in molded plywood and prefab housing, Norman Cherner studied and taught at the Columbia University Fine Arts Department and was an instructor at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1947 to 1949.

For almost 20 years, Cherner's seating was rarely seen outside of galleries, museums and the living rooms of few lucky collectors. This all changed in 1999, when Cherner's sons Benjamin and Thomas formed the Cherner Chair Company to revive the designs and produce them as their father originally intended.

This chair is being sold today. However, it has influenced many styles since it's inception. 

Even modest chairs have Grand beginnings.







All of these original chair designs were ground breaking, fabulous, artistic creations... . They were not always as comfortable as they were visually appealing. But, the form and style were the masterpiece and others have gone above and beyond to bring those designs into a functional and comfortable existence. Many introduced new manufacturing techniques, while others set the stage for the lines and curves that would be varied generation after generation.

I LOVE chairs!

Kimberly R Lifestyle by Design 
Designing a life with grace and ease