Hasta La Ideas

Industrial designer Konstantin Grcic worked with furniture brand Emeco to create the chairs and tables that furnish the new Parrish Art Museum on Long Island, recently completed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

The Parrish Art Museum recently moved to a new building by Herzog & de Meuron, a single-storey structure near the town of Southampton that resembles two long, narrow barns placed side by side.

Konstantin Grcic and Emeco’s Parrish collection includes a table, chair and lounge chair, all with curving legs made from recycled aluminium and seats made of reclaimed pine.

“The Parrish chair was given a round tube, forming a belt that defines the space around you – a space where you can feel protected,” said Grcic, adding that the chair manages to feel spacious while using very little material.

“The pine on the aluminium chair looks almost like tractor seat,” he added, “which has something old fashioned and genuine about it.”

Above: photograph by Konstantin Grcic

The collection will be launched in Milan next April, with tabletops made of high-pressure laminate rather than pine.

Grcic recently designed a mirror for a poodle as part of the Architecture for Dogs project and also contributed a bench covered in a glass mosaic to an exhibition at the V&A during the London Design Festival.

Above: photograph by Richard Lewin

Famous for its aluminium chairs, the American brand Emeco was founded in 1944 with a commission from the US government to produce the now classic Navy chair, also known as the 1006. Earlier this year we reported on a collection of aluminium chairs designed by French architect Jean Nouvel for Emeco.

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Above: photograph by Richard Lewin

Photographs are by Clo’e Floirat except where stated.

Here’s some more information from the museum:

Parrish Art Museum
Mobile interiors by Emeco + Konstantin Grcic
Museum opening Nov. 10, 2012 in Water Mill, NYC, USA

Emeco and Konstantin Grcic collaborate on interior installation at the New Parrish Art Museum in South Hampton, NYC.

“The location on Long Island brings a feeling of countryside and the design process was always defined by finding the most straightforward solution fitting the surrounding – the specific needs for this specific museum in this specific region,” Konstantin Grcic reflects.

Based on local materials from local manufacturers, Konstantin Grcic matches recycled aluminium and retrieved timber with the bare building, both as fixed and mobile furniture for the Parrish Art Museum. The interior installation includes tables and chairs created in collaboration with American manufacturer Emeco.

“The collaboration with Emeco was always an important part of the project, something I had in mind as an obvious choice for the kind of furniture we needed. It is simply the only company I could think of who could bring a nice mix for this interior concept, specialists in aluminium, delivering another kind of material appearance, environmentally sound, perfect for the both indoor and outdoor and being such a truly American company – it was a perfect match,” Grcic continues.

“When Konstantin asked me if Emeco would be interested in collaborating with him on the Parrish Art Museum I was thrilled. Konstantin is one of the most innovative and original industrial designers of today,” says Emeco’s CEO Gregg Buchbinder. “Konstantin’s degree of perfection combined with his analytical rigour made the product development process deliberate and thoughtful. He managed to leverage our heritage and at the same time push Emeco into the future. The Parrish Chair reminds me of something Le Corbusier might have designed in the 1920s, yet at the same time, it looks fresh, modern, and original – it’s a real artifact of our current culture, a future classic,” Buchbinder continues.

“I have always had a fascination and admiration of the hard physical labour of the production of the Emeco’s iconic Navy chair. My ambition for the collaboration was, therefore, to do something that uses the same aluminium work but make the process more effective, less physically challenging. I think the design of the Parrish chair comes from a close understanding of what Emeco really can do,” says Konstantin.

“Developing the mobile interiors for the Parrish museum brings us to the peculiar psychology around chairs used in public spaces – exploring the idea of comfort and non-comfort. The best you can give someone in a public space is a chair that really feels like a chair. Considering the public self-awareness in a museum seat, the Parrish chair was given a round tube, forming a belt that defines the space around you – a space where you can feel protected. The chair is also spacious, achieved using very little material. Put together the pine on the aluminum chair looks almost like tractor seat, which has something old fashioned and genuine about it. At the final installation the Parrish chairs are strong individuals, yet the collection, I must say, looks even greater in multiplication. A density of tube forms composed in a very nice subtle way, an astonishing view in numbers,” Konstantin concludes.

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for the Parrish Art Museum appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: the repeating arches of these colourful chairs designed by Spanish architecture studio Arquitectura-G were inspired by the use of forced perspective in Renaissance paintings.

The Claudio Chair by Arquitectura-G has a seat that narrows at the front, bringing the front legs closer together.

When you view the chair from the back, you can see its front legs as well, an effect that creates a false vanishing point.

As well as the four colours in production, the designers have launched a series of 43 one-off chairs, each in a different colour, which can be placed side by side to form a full circle resembling a colosseum (see bottom image).

We previously featured a couple of architectural projects in Barcelona by Arquitectura-G – an apartment renovation with built-in mezzanine levels and another apartment with sliding and folding doors between each room.

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Photographs are by Arquitectura-G.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

INDOORS is a section of the architecture office ARQUITECTURA-G. It focuses on the interior rearrangement of the urban apartment, suiting it to the contemporary dwelling culture. With the very same philosophy, INDOORS also produces its own furniture, Claudio chair being part of it.

The starting point of the Claudio chair’s design is the arch as an element and its repetition. The arch, traditionally related to heavy solid construction rather than to the framework, is here decontextualised, using it in a small scale piece made out of thin wood planes.

The lower part of the legs is rounded so each one only leans on a single point. Then, the legs make up an L-shaped cross-section which transforms into arches in each plane, making the joints under the seat stiff. To form the back, the rear arch grows without touching the seat – a horizontal plane that reinforces the categorically geometrical character of the piece – until it reaches the proper height.

The trapezoidal form of the seat breaks the formal purity of the whole, giving in exchange a fake illusion of vanishing point, in the same way as the forced perspectives of the Renaissance and the paintings of Chirico.

Material: Lacquered MDF
Design: ARQUITECTURA-G
Edition: INDOORS
Design year: 2012

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Arquitectura-G appeared first on Dezeen.

This stacking chair by Swedish designer Jens Fager is more flexible than you’d expect thanks to a springy mechanism that joins the back to the metal frame (+ slideshow).

Jens Fager designed the Feather chair for Swedish office furniture manufacturer Edsbyn, but it’s also intended for use in classrooms, restaurants or the home.

“The name Feather evokes elegance combined with spring and resilience,” said Fager, explaining that the sprung backrest makes it more comfortable than most simple stacking office chairs.

“We wanted it to attract all consumers, from young design offices to the dining room of a huge factory. A chair for everyone,” Fager told Dezeen.

Detachable, rubber-covered armrests allow it to be hung off the edge of a table when mopping the floor. The frame is available in chrome, white lacquer or silver lacquer and the seat and backrest are available in white ash, natural oak, black stained oak and natural birch.

The chair will be launched at Stockholm Furniture Fair in 2013.

Fager graduated from Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2008 – we reported on a rocking chair from his RAW collection that was shown at Gallery Libby Sellers that year.

Other chairs we’ve featured recently on Dezeen include Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s stackable wooden chair designed for a Danish university and a chair by Nendo that appears varnished but is actually wrapped in fishing line.

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Photographs are by Rasmus Norlander.

Here’s some more information from the designer:

Feather has been developed in collaboration with designer Jens Fager and leading product developers/engineers. Together, we’ve created a chair that meets high standards of comfort and durability. Feather fits effortlessly into a wide range of environments: from the conference room, restaurant and office to school classrooms and even the home.

A subtle chair with character that comes in a welcome choice of designs. The name Feather evokes elegance combined with spring and resilience. The way that the backrest is attached gives a sprung effect for superb comfort.

We’ve put a lot of love into the armrest. The armrest comprises a technically advanced metal core that is then encased in pure rubber for durability and softness. It is ergonomically designed and also offers a pleasingly tactile experience with its gently rounded lines and a material that cushions the hands and underarms. The armrest also allows the chair to be hung up on the edge of the table for ease of cleaning below.

Frame standard: White lacquer, Chrome, Silver lacquer
Seat / backrest standard: White Glazed Ash, Natural Oak, Black Stained Oak, Natural Birch.
Fully upholstered / semi-upholstered in a standard Edsbyn fabric. Custom fabric on request.
Armrest: black or light grey. Custom colours are available for bulk orders.

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Jens Fager for Edsbyn appeared first on Dezeen.

In this movie filmed by Dezeen, Studiomama founder Nina Tolstrup talks about the chair she modified for the Stepney Green Design Collection and how “there are always materials to be found” in east London.

“One of the things that is quite fantastic about the East End is that there are always bits, pieces and materials to be found around, and with a little resourcefulness there’s a lot of potential in exploring and finding the beauty in the unloved,” says Tolstrup.

The colourful Re-imagined chairs were first created for an interior project that required new designs quickly, so Tolstrup took chairs she ”found in [her] local streets in Bethnal Green” and gave them a new lease of life.

She stripped the old chairs down to the frames, which she powder-coated in bright colours then added new backs and seats that were upholstered locally to match.

“It’s kind of a full circle: from a chair that was actually from our streets that has found its way back into the Stepney Collection,” she says.

The Stepney Green Design Collection consists of 10 products selected by Marcus Fairs of Dezeen from creatives who live near to VIVO, a new housing development in the east London district. The project also includes objects chosen by east London bloggers Pete Stean of Londoneer and Kate Antoniou of Run Riot.

The collection is on show at the Genesis Cinema, 93-95 Mile End Road, Whitechapel, London E1 4UJ, from 10am to 10pm every day until January. After this, the objects will be given to VIVO residents.

See all the items in the Stepney Green Design Collection here and watch the movies we’ve featured so far here. The music featured in the movies is by American designer and musician Glen Lib. You can listen to the full track on Dezeen Music Project.

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to be found” – Nina Tolstrup appeared first on Dezeen.

These triangular sofas by Dutch architects UNStudio were inspired by geological formations.

Created for furniture manufacturers Walter Knoll, the seats tesselate to form clusters that break up communal spaces like lobbies and lounges.

They are made of Polyurethane foam on a steel frame and can be upholstered in a variety of colour combinations that are meant to reference a collection of precious stones.

“The Seating Stones are designed to generate numerous different atmospheres, which is why we included a wide variety of possible configurations and colours but also a selection of materials,” co-founder of UNStudio Ben van Berkel told Dezeen. “We also created something that wasn’t instantly recognisable as a chair and that in fact was somewhat more sculptural as a form.”

UNStudio are launching the sofa design this week at Orgatec in Cologne, which continues until 27 October.

You can read more stories about UNStudio here»
See all our stories about seating»

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Seating stones

Throughout history natural formations have been used to provide seating elements for rest, relaxation, gathering and communication. Inspired by the rhythmic smoothness of geological formations, the sculptural Seating Stones exhibit a playful take on spatial awareness and versatility, presenting myriad possibilities for placement, color, texture, arrangement and communication.


Seating Stones are designed as individual objects and can be used autonomously. However they can also be placed side by side as a family of forms in a variety of configurations. The shape and contours of the seating elements facilitate a wide range of possible groupings. They can be placed together, either to accommodate privacy or to invite communication; they can be both individual and private or social and open.


Seating Stones are equally versatile when it comes to multipurpose usage, offering a diversity of options for placement; from offices, waiting rooms, lobbies and meeting spaces to use in the home. In all situations the configuration of the seating elements can be arranged to suit individual spaces and the desired ‘connectivity’ of the users.


Inspired by the bright and varied natural fabrics produced by the Incas of Latin America, Seating Stones can be upholstered in a wide variety of fabrics and colours. Furthermore, the fabric types and colours can be mixed, creating different appearances and textures in each element, or in a grouping of individual seats. The fabrics of the Seating stones can therefore reference a simple, individual stone, or alternatively can resemble a mixed formation of richly coloured minerals.

Seating Stones, Walter Knoll, Herrenberg, Germany, 2012

Client: Walter Knoll
Location: Herrenberg, Germany
Size/s: w x l x h: 1596 x 876 x 800
Materials: steel frame and PU Foam, upholstered.
Seat Comfort by belts
Status: will be presented at Orgatec 2012

Credits

UNStudio: Ben van Berkel, Caroline Bos with Martijn Prins, Maurits Fennis and William de Boer
Walter Knoll: Markus Benz and Jurgen Rohm

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by UNStudio appeared first on Dezeen.