Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sexy chairs

I wanna talk chairs. I spent 5 years training as an architect. 6 if you count my year-out.
Then I spend 12 years working as an architect (design, construction, planning... you name it, I did it) and getting my licence. So I think I can talk about design with some authority.
Align Center

The Corona chair by Poul Volther.

This is a great investment, if it's in leather- and you'd only need one for your study.
BE that evil genius that sits on his throne twirling his moustache going "MWAAA-HAAHAA-HAAA" at every little bit of planning that he does- like designing your own home. Pretty sad, really. Not the chair, though.... the chair's pure sex. Get it!


Egg chair by Arne Jacobsen

If this ain't a mod classic then I dunno what is. The funny thing is, I remember when I was very young, my Dad had one of these. In black leather too, baby. Back then it wasn't a big deal so me and by siblings (3 kids all under 4yrs, whoa) totally destroyed it. Then came our cat..... I can't remember what eventually happened to the chair- must've been taken to some random dump near the 50490 hood.


Marshmallow chair by George Nelson.

YES. Get this for your hallway or for your boudoir (or walk-in-closet as us normal folk like to call it). Not comfortable, but you'll only ever need one piece, so this is a great buy.


La Mama chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia

Who can resist resting on an ample bosom and thighs? I know I can't. I have spent many a saturday morning drooling over this chair at Space Furniture. I love its organic lines. Love its "embrace". Get this if you've got a few K in your budget, and you'll only need ONE because it's pretty darned big.


The Barcelona chair by Mies van der Rohe- furniture which the architect has designed for his Barcelona Pavillion.

Like Le Corbusier's chaise lounge, chairs and sofas, DO NOT get this unless you have the entire lounge set or you will risk your guests thinking that you bought a cheap imitation from China.

And these have been bought to death by any and every DIY wanna-be interior designer.
My years as an architect tells me NOOO.

The Tulip chair by Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen is an architect that epitomized 60's coolness.
His other work of art was Dulles Airport in Virginia, USA. (completed 1962)


In the winter of 1995, there was a snowstorm in January- and I was booked on a very stupid route that stopped in Dulles Airport to LAX instead of O'Hare to LAX. Of course there was a delay (biiig surprise) and I wandered the airport for a few gorgeous hours.
But this chair looks great as a bar stool, so yes you'd need a few of these.


Wassily chair by Marcel Breuer

Composition VIII by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923.

Designed for Wassily Kandinsky the russian constructivist artist by Marcel Breuer of the Bauhaus design school. What prompts a man to design a chair for another man?
My favourite- not necessarily as something to sit on, er, but I admire its architecture.
Just look at the way it's constructed! Need I say more? Get these as your dining table chairs- make sure it's a glass dining table and the retro-retro (double because it's 80's retro on 20's retro) look is complete.

Eames chair by Charles Eames

For tree-hugger-veggie-burger wood, Charles Eames and Alvar Aalto is the BEST. IKEA ain't got nothin' on Alvar Aalto, the godfather of scandinavian design.

Original Aalto chair

You think IKEA's Poang chair was original? Pthtptthhh!!!!!
Gawd, IKEAphiles crack me up. YEAH, YOU.
Have you heard the conversations/arguments/sniping between couples with opposing aesthetic ideas in IKEA? Go there on a Saturday for some comedy- that's when all the trash bring their brood out for a cheap meal and to pick up some plastic twat thingy that will make your life so much like those people inside the IKEA catalogues.


The Heart Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra

Gorgeous kitsch appeal just like the Lips sofa. From experience, this one wobbles waaaay too much after a few months of use. The function outweighs the form when the form is too lightweight.


Cafe Costes chair by Phillippe Starck.

Starckie has done MILLIONS of chairs, and the most well known one is probably the Ghost chair for Kartell. But I like this one best because there is some sense of craftsmanship to the end product. The wood is gorgeous. BUT I still wouldn't get it because the frame looks shit-house (Australian technical term). If it wasn't powdercoated aluminium and stainless steel then that would be better.