Designed by Hans J. Wegner in 1963. When it was presented at a Danish furniture exhibition some critics loved the avant-garde design, but the general public was slow to accept the chair's bold lines and initial sales were poor. Produced only in very limited quantities during the 1960s, Wegner's "Three-legged Shell Chair" began to fetch handsome prices at international auctions in the 1980s and 1990s. When Carl Hansen & Son re-introduced the chair in 1998, it immediately won several design awards and broad public appeal. Sometimes called "The Smiling Chair", the three-legged construction provides outstanding stability. The chair achieves a floating lightness due to its wing-like lines, its tapered legs, and the arching curves of its laminated legs. W:92 x D:83 x H:74cm (Seat height: 35cm) For more options please contact one of our stores. Made to order item Hans J. WegnerHans J Wegner (1914-2007) trained as a cabinet-maker before attending the Copenhagen School of Arts and Crafts, where he later lectured from 1946 to 1953.
From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a furniture designer in Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller«s architectural practice. In 1943, he set up his own office in Gentofte and collaborated with Børge Mogensen in the design of an apartment shown at the 1946 Cabinetmakers Exhibition in Copenhagen. Throughout his long career, he has designed furniture extensively for Johannes Hansen and Fritz Hansen. The Royal Society of Arts, London, made him an Honorary Royal Designers for Industry in 1959.When Ray and Charles Eames’ classic molded side chair was first produced, in 1951, it was one of the first industrially-manufactured plastic chairs on the market. The wonder of technology went on to become a much-loved classic—today, it’s enjoying a renewed popularity thanks to the popularity of Mid-Century modernism. The side chair may be a classic, but it’s also been customized in a hundred different ways. Even the Eameses themselves tried out dozens of variations, adding different bases, “bikini” covers, and horsehair cushions.
And since then, many other artists and designers have tried their hands at making a mark on the side chair—from a knit version to a Federal seal version.Here are some of the most notable variations: Can a Smartphone Really Replace Your Camera? The Best Pens for Your EDC The Sexy, Mind-Bending Supercars of the '70s The 25 Best Places to Travel in 2017 Perhaps more than any other piece of furniture, a great chair can transcend its role as functional object. Take the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, one of the most famous furniture designs in the last century. MoMA put one in its permanent collection, and countless others remain scattered throughout pop culture — see: Archer, Frasier, etc. (and more coming, surely). Chairs like this strike a symbolic chord, loaded with history, envy and nostalgia. While it’s important to give credit where credit is due — the Eames lounger is a design marvel that’s comfortable, attractive and timeless — let us not forget the numerous other chair designs that have made history in the past century, all of which would look equally handsome in your home office or studio today.
That is, of course, if you have the dough. Here are eight to know. Though born in Hungary, Marcel Breuer is most commonly associated with the Bauhaus movement of Weimar and Dessau, Germany, where he studied under Walter Gropius. A renowned architect with many famous buildings to his name, including the UNESCO headquarters and former Whitney Museum of American Art, he is also quietly remembered for this chair, one of his first designs, the patent for which was later purchased by Knoll. One of the early pioneers of modern architecture and design, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who coined the “less is more” aphorism, created many stunning pieces of furniture, including the Barcelona chair and Brno chair. Like those, the cantilevered MR Adjustable Chaise, first designed for an exhibit in Stuttgart, Germany, utilizes balance by way of steel tube legs, which were a rarity in the 1920s. Dubbed the “relaxing machine” for the way it contours the human body, the LC4 Chaise Longue, designed by French designers Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret, is renowned for its moveable frame and, thus, its vast number of sitting angles.
Since 1965, the chair has been manufactured in Italy by Cassina. Jean Prouvé was self taught in matters of architecture and design, and a pioneer in nomadic architecture — that is, designing homes and furniture with an emphasis on portability. He frequently used sheet metal in his work, as exemplified by this armchair, designed in 1930 for the student residence halls at the Cité Universitaire in Nancy, France. Jens Risom’s Risom Collection, first known as the 600 Series when it debuted in the early ’40s, was the first line of furniture commissioned and manufactured by Knoll, and its commercial success helped put the American design firm on the map. Simple in its construction, this lounge chair features interwoven cotton webbing around a hardwood frame. The Kjærholm Collection, developed by Danish designer Poul Kjærholm from 1951 to 1967, maintains a place in Fritz Hansen’s permanent collection. In 1958, his sleek PK22 chair, constructed with leather and metal, won Kjærholm the coveted Lunning Prize, which, at the time, recognized the best Scandinavian designers from Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Among the most influential designers of the 20th century, with close ties to Braun, Dieter Rams is most famous for his simple, utilitarian industrial home goods. His only furniture designs were for another company: Vitsœ, founded in 1959 by Niels Vitsœ with the name Vitsœ+Zapf. Today the company is based in England and continues to produce Rams’s modular furniture designs, including the 620 chair, made from leather and a warm-pressed sheet-molding compound, which can be compounded into a sofa. A rare example of Danish designer Hans J. Wegner’s interest in plywood (most of his furniture designs feature solid wood), the Shell Chair, a.k.a. the “smiling chair,” was designed for Carl Hansen & Søn. It stands sturdy on three legs and remains a graceful example of Wegner’s belief that a chair “should be beautiful from all sides and angles.” Jasper Morrison's reinterpretation of the shell chair, the clean and contemporary HAL tube chair offers a versatile seating option in your home.