The detail of 'Plastic Classic_Lacquered' chair by Pili Wu for Han Gallery

‘In Asia, the classical Ming-style chair is recognised as a symbol of social status and taste. Conversely, the widespread presence of the moulded plastic stool is overwhelmingly abundant because of its low price; making it another kind of “classic”’, explains the young Taiwanese designer Pili Wu whose striking, crimson red ‘Plastic Classic_Lacquered’ chair found itself the centre of attention at HAN Gallery‘s Ventura Lambrate exhibition. Featuring a characteristic-of-the-Ming-chair loop armrest and back, and a simple stool-like seat and legs, the beech wood chair was created in collaboration with artisan Tian-chang Jian who hand-lacquered the design with 20 layers of natural lacquer, thus creating a unique, ombré effect. (more…)

'Broom' chair by Philippe Starck for Emeco

The acclaimed French designer Philippe Starck has collaborated with the American chair specialists Emeco on this environmentally-friendly, stackable chair called ‘Broom’. Unveiled earlier this month during Milan’s Salone del Mobile fair, the chair is made from reclaimed polypropylene and discarded wood fibre – a ‘compound of industry waste from lumber factories and industrial plastic plants.’ Watch Philippe Starck tell the story of his new collaboration with Emeco in the video below. (more…)

Pedrali's new collection of chairs

To celebrate their new collection of vividly coloured chairs, the Italian manufacturer Pedrali has created this behind-the-scenes video capturing the proceedings from the promotional photo shoot during which no less than 88 chairs in a rainbow of hues were carefully arranged and, ultimately, photographed in a meticulously-calculated, multicoloured motif. The photographed models included Alessandro Busana’s ‘Laja’, Jorge Pensi’s ‘Ara’ and the stacking ‘Blitz’ by the Italian designers Marco Pocci and Claudio Dondoli. Watch the inspiring time-lapse video below. (more…)

'1.3' Chair by Kihyun Kim for Zeitraum; photo by Team Schalterhalle

A young Korean designer and last year’s RCA graduate Kihyun Kim has just been awarded the prestigious Designs of the Year Award 2012 in the furniture category for his ’1.3′ Chair. The design, which is most probably world’s lightest wooden chair, was realised as Kim’s MA Design Product graduate project and the chair has now been put into production by a German manufacturer Zeitraum. Originally made of balsa wood and weighting a feathery (less than Gio Ponti’s 1957 ‘Superleggera’) 1.28 kg, the ’1.3′ Chair is now available in oak, ash and American walnut. It was presented earlier last week at Zeitraum’s stand in hall 7 and at the RCA Paradise show at Milan’s Ventura Lambrate. (more…)

'ICON 03' chair by Jan Plecháč for NgispeN

Drawing his inspiration from the iconic De Stijl Red and Blue Chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld almost one hundred years ago (in 1917), a young award-winning Czech designer Jan Plecháč has created this bold, wire chair for Gispen’s ’Playing With Tradition’ brand NgispeN. Launched last week at the Temporary Museum For New Design in Superstudio Piu, ‘ICON 03′ can be used both indoors and outdoors thanks to its durable steel structure. (more…)

'Chairs without Legs' guest exhibition at the Bauhaus Archive Berlin; photo by Rainer Viertlböck

Originally developed in tubular steel by a Dutch architect and furniture designer Mart Stam in the 1920s, soon after its invention cantilever chair has found itself the centre of attention, inspiration and reinterpretation among some of the most prominent Bauhaus figures such as Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Later, in 1960s, Verner Panton has popularised the form by creating the now-iconic, curvilinear ‘Panton’ chair which, at the time, was the first cantilevered chair made from a single piece of plastic. Since then, the ‘chair without legs’ has been revisited and refashioned innumerable amount of times by designers from across the globe. Now, to celebrate the history and undeniable adaptability of cantilever chair, Munich’s International Design Museum has organised a special guest exhibition which opened earlier last week (21 March) at the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin. (more…)

Detail shot of the 'Arms chair' by THINKK + Studio248; design by THINKK Studio

Two Thai design studios THINKK run by Decha Archjananun and Ploypan Theerachai and Studio248 founded by Jakkapun Charinrattana have joined their creative forces to develop a new series of furniture and the outcome of this collaboration, a four-piece collection of beautifully simple, everyday designs will be presented at Ventura Lambrate during this year’s Salone del Mobile fair. Comprising a chair, a multifunctional, adjustable closet, a crane-inspired table lamp and sculptural stackable vase, the entire collection has been developed in ash wood, bar the ‘Merging Top’ vase whose design is composed from ash wood, marble and ceramic. (more…)

'LC7 Outdoor' chair by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand

The Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina has released an outdoor version of the iconic ‘LC7′ swivel chair. Originally designed by Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand in 1928, the new ‘LC7 Outdoor’ edition is made of stainless steel and water-resistant, high tenacity polyester fabric which is available in five neutral colours. (more…)