Many Chairs Make Much Art

No longer content to be an integral part of an overall interior, chairs are reclaiming their sculptural qualities and bridging the gap between art and design. (All this to seemingly sell chairs to be in your interior)

A feast for the eyes and a great way to show off variations in style and color, shooting chairs out of context allows the potential client to look at them in a very different way. The focus is no longer on how well the chair complements the rest of the environment, but on the formal character of the chair itself. Accordingly, the buying process is cleverly altered to one similar to buying art (which is certainly not chosen on how well in goes with a sofa).

Italian manufacturer Pedrali turns 50 this year, and to celebrate they have developed an ad campaign showing the top view of dozens and dozens of chairs laid out in geometrical shapes like the candles on a birthday cake.

 Arper, another Italian manufacturer, uses photos of their products stacked, piled or bunched together on a neutral background like topless models in jeans. Definitely shows off the curves, although not necessarily the scale of the piece.

Nothing says ‘garage sale’ like piling up all your furniture in front of the house.  But somehow if you pile it up in a photo studio, or line it up perfectly in front of the factory, it suddenly says ‘list price’.

To hell with scale, chair art translates easily to doll size pieces! Instead of arranging them in a small open-faced dwelling, they can be hung by their feet in a spherical shape around a light bulb with interesting shadow effects...

 Finally, for the no-longer-parentally-guided crowd, a little straight-up chair-porn mise-en-scène and photographed by the inimitable Karl Lagerfeld. From light necking, to a little upside-down plaisir à deux, to a pile-up of countless chairs, the fashion master plays up the leather and fur side of each piece.

By Claire Toussaint

Café Müller

In this modern dance piece, which is set in the café Pina Bausch used to frequent during her childhood years in post-war Germany, chairs play an integral role. Crowding the stage, they outnumber the dancers and are constantly moved around and thrown about during the performance.

In anticipation of the next production of ‘Café Mueller’, here is a selection of chairs we think would constitute the best corps de chaise:

The Armchair 423  by Artek has similar stark lines to the chair used in the 1985 Café Muller production (above), but with arm which would increase the desired impression of clutter  and congestion. 

Chair 66, by Alvar Aalto for Artek, has a distinctly Scandinvian look which keeps the intended institutional feel, without being so ‘interrogation room’.

 Designed by Ilmari Tapiovaara and revived by Artek, the ‘Domus’ chair’s arm structure has the elbowy-awkwardness yet strange beauty of Bausch’s choreography.

Masters Chair

A lot lighter and easily stackable, the ‘Masters’ chair by Philippe Starck for Kartell seems like it would be the set crew’s first pick, although its dainty legs and expressive lines indubitably identify it one of the dancers. 

Neve chair

With its tightly bowed curves, the ‘Neve’ chair by Piero Lissoni speaks more to the aftermath of the war on the Eastern front (Café Murakami?).

 Tudor chair

Because you can’t put a ‘Naval’ chair on the stage at the Opera Garnier, the ‘Tudor’ chair by Jaime Hayon for Established and Sons is a good dressier option for a more lavish interior.

 As far as dance performances go, ‘Café Mueller’ has a fair amount of stunts. Between constantly bumping into the furniture and falling out of each other’s arms, it’s a surprise the dancers don’t turn black and blue after a few performances.  Why not limit the damage by putting out nice comfy ‘Sacco’ chairs rather than the usual hard-edged seat?

Victoria ghost

What better way to make reference to the ghost of chairs past, than by specifying the ‘Ghost’ chair itself? Also makes the bumping into furniture all the time a lot more credible, bringing the focus back to the dancers. 

Meda Slim

Putting on ‘Café Mueller’ with the theater/dance group from work? The ‘Meda Slim’ by Antonio Citterio for Vitra is the perfect chair for an office production of this compelling work.

 And lastly, let us not forget our cherished bambini and their end of the year show: the ‘N65’ children’s chair by Artek should do the trick.

Claire Toussaint

In with the old, in with the new

Maybe Grandma was on to something pairing that old club chair with the faded Persian rug she’s had since the last war. Maybe a modern interior does not have to look like the inside of Karim Rashid’s brain after all. Maybe the classics just need a little freshening up for the new year.

In the spirit of making a something old into a something new, FREAKS free architects gave this Parisian apartment a face-lift by cutting directly through wainscoting and moldings to create contemporary spaces while conserving the Napoleon era decorative elements. It goes to show, there is no need to overdo lipo and implants, less renovation is more renovation.

Have you ever wanted to draw mustaches on the dusty portraits in your grandfather’s study? Fornasetti has, and has given many a countess a youthful comeback on a plate or side table.

Inspired by the decorative frieze lining the ceiling of his Amsterdam apartment, Marcel Wanders conceived the ‘Skygarden’ pendant light so everyone could take a piece of it home with them.

As the decorative molding is only situated inside the light with the outer shell left simple and modern, the light creates a charming surprise when guests sit down at a table it is hung over.

 Old carpets are the new new carpets. The more distressed, the better; but decolorized and overdyed to artfully underline statement modern furniture.

Another piece that recycles beautifully is the Artek chair, which has not been out of style since 1935. So much so in fact, that there is a whole market for second hand, with a specialized 2^nd cycle store in Helsinki.

The current master of classic style with a twist is definitely Spanish designer Jaime Hayon.

Taking inspiration from a mixture of Louis, Georges, Charles and Victoria, the man who singlehandedly brought the knickknack back cleverly uses gilding, tufting and hand painting alongside more contemporary finishing techniques to bring to life a quirky collection of furnishings for the modern-day Marie-Antoinette.

 by Claire Toussaint

Shigeru Ban - 10-Unit System

Shigeru Ban, born in 1957 in Tokyo, Japan, is an internationally recognized Japanese architect. He has been a pioneer in applying the principles of sustainable development to architectural design. Shigeru Ban’s architecture emphasises refinement and a highly developed innovativeness, especially in materials technologies. His original and bold approach to the use of paper, cardboard and bamboo as construction materials, combined with a clean-lined and contemporary architectural aesthetic, has made him one of the most important architects of our time.

Artek New York (2009)


Shigeru Ban studied at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and later on in the Cooper Union’s School of Architecture. Ban graduated in 1984 after which he started his own practice in 1985.

Artek in Milan (2009)


Shigeru Ban can be described as a modernist, experimentalist as well as a rationalist. The architect is most famous for his innovative work with paper tubes as a material for building construction. Ban’s architecture has strong influences from his interest in humanitarianism. Shigeru Ban is concerned with building as a whole, and is not interested only in so-called beautiful architecture: providing assistance in coping with catastrophes is just as important to him. Shigeru Ban’s DIY Refugee shelters (used for example in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, in Turkey and in Rwanda) have proved very effective for disaster relief housing. Ban knows that simple solutions are often the most difficult to develop –especially when using inexpensive materials.

Shigeru Ban’s major works include among many other things the Japanese Pavilion at the Hannover Expo 2000 and the new Centre Georges Pompidou in Metz, which is expected to be completed in 2009. In 2007, Shigeru Ban designed the Artek Pavilion, “The Space of Silence”, for the Salone del Mobile. Ban’s 10-UNIT SYSTEM for Artek is launched in Milan 2009.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Artek in Miami (2009)


The 10-Unit System is comprised of 10 wood plastic composite L-shaped units. The 10 L-units in a system can be used to assemble several items, including a chair, a stool and a frame for a table. By combining more L-units you are able to create new furniture pieces, such as benches.

Ilmari Tapiovaara Designs Part of Artek Product Range

In 2010 the products of Ilmari Tapiovaara became part of the Artek product range.  The manufacturing facility where llmari Tapiovaara pieces were being produced had been failing. Artek saw this as an opportunity, in purchasing the facility, to keep the furniture pieces in production and promote them to a wider audience than before.  The Ilmari Tapiovaara pieces added to their existing collection mainly designed by their founders Alvar and Aino Aalto, Maire Gullichsen and Nils-Gustav Hahl.





Ilmari Tapiovaara was one of the greatest interior architects and designers of his era. With the mind of an explorer and a soul of a craftsman, Tapiovaara was always seeking for new solutions to improve everyday objects. During his long career Tapiovaara created dozens of iconic objects loved by the public.

Domus Lounge chair - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1946)

Domus chair - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1946)


Tapiovaara is especially revered as a master of characteristic and human objects and surroundings who captured the essence of Finnish identity. Today the contemporary Tapiovaara Family Collection maintains the timeless heritage of a master of Finnish design. Ilmari Tapiovaara graduated in 1937 as interior architect from the department of furniture design of the Central School of Applied Arts in Helsinki. After graduation he obtained the position of assistant for six months at Le Corbusier’s office in Paris. In 1938 Tapiovaara began work as artistic director and designer at Asko Oy, the largest furniture manufacturer in Finland, and in 1941 he was hired as artistic and commercial director for the furniture company Keravan Puuteollisuus Oy. In 1946–47 Tapiovaara designed, together with his wife, Annikki Tapiovaara, furniture for Domus Academica, the new student housing facility in Helsinki. It was in that project the famous Domus Stacking Chair was designed.

Mademoiselle Lounge Chair - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1956)

Tee-Tee Table - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1940)


 Ilmari Tapiovaara was a great admirer of Alvar Aalto’s work, and he wanted to create products based on the same ideological premises. Tapiovaara embraced the principle of social equality of functionalism, and felt that architecture was the starting point of his design work. In addition to dozens of chairs and other furniture, mostly intended for public spaces, Tapiovaara also designed interiors for many banks, offices, hotels and showrooms starting in the 1940s.

Pirkka collection - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1955)

Ilmari Tapiovaara also worked abroad in various capacities. In 1952–53 he was employed as professor at the school of design of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and he also worked for a while in the office of Mies van der Rohe. In the late 1950s, he travelled to Paraguay, where he designed furniture on behalf of the UN development program, and in the mid-1970s he worked in Mauritius in a similar project. He also worked in an expert capacity in Yugoslavia, participating in the development of a centre for furniture and joinery industry. He also designed furniture for clients in Italy and Sweden, among others.

Trienna Table - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1954)

Ilmari Tapiovaara furniture collection for Artek

Ilmari Tapiovaara was awarded a total of six gold medals at the Milan Triennials in 1951, 1954, 1957, 1960 and 1964. He was awarded the Good Design Award in Chicago in 1951, the Pro Finlandia medal in 1959, the Finnish State Design Prize in 1971 and the Furniture Prize of the SIO Interior Architects’ Association of Finland in 1990.

Kiki collection - Ilmari Tapiovaara (1960)