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Nov. 20 - Nov. 27, 2011 |
A fascination with plastic
Material prevalent in latest modern furniture
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2011-10-09
A reinterpretation of classic chairs and an overall tendency towards all-plastic designs characterize some of the latest product offerings from Italy’s modern furniture manufacturers.
German designer Konstantin Grcic has earned accolades for his all-plastic Myto chair for Bolzano-based manufacturer Plank — including a 2011 Compasso d’Oro award — and designer and manufacturer teamed up again recently to produce Avus, a reinterpretation of a classic club lounge chair.
While the traditional club chair is typically a combination of leather seating with a wood frame, the new Avus features a rigid, double-layer ABS plastic base. The seat’s back is a perforated single plastic layer, creating flexibility in the upper section of the Italian easy chair. Ever the student of manufacturing technologies in other sectors, Grcic employs a production technique from high-end luggage manufacturing to ensure a durable fastening of plastic frame to leather upholstery in the new Avus.
Leading Italian furniture company De Padova’s new Florinda chair is also a reinterpretation of a classic seat. In this instance, it’s the traditional café chair getting a modern makeover.
Designed by Stockholm-based designer Monica Förster, the new Florinda chair combines a polycarbonate plastic seat and back with a solid beech frame that is both innovative, but also reminiscent of Scandinavian mid-20th century modernist furniture. The new chair — with or without armrests — is stackable up to five units and the plastic sections are available in a limited palette of primary colours. Förster, a two-time winner of Sweden’s designer of the year award, also designs more experimental work such as Cloud, a portable multi-purpose indoor space.
Acclaimed architect and designer Ron Arad’s new Raviolo chair for Treviso-based Magis is a whimsical, all-polyethylene plastic design with strong hints of his previous Tom-Vac chair for Swiss manufacturer Vitra. Raviolo’s curves are generally typical of Arad’s furniture work, which also includes his Fantastic Plastic Elastic chair for Milan furniture manufacturer Kartell.
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