All the models in the Cassina collection, by merit of their artistic content and particular creative character, are protected by copyright, a legal institution that is universally recognised and safeguarded; legal protection is assured for the whole life-span of the author and for 70 years after his/her death (or the death of the last surviving co-author). LEGNO / WOOD / BOIS / HÖLZER 280 Cassina_Zigzag 111212.pdf (pdf)Design: 1932-34Production: 1935 to c.1955Manufacturer: Metz & Co., AmsterdamSize: 75 x 37 x 44.5; seat height 42.5 cmsMaterial: red-stained elm, brass screwsAs a variation on the model of a chair without back legs first developed by Mart Stam, Gerrit Rietveld’s “Zig-Zag” chair remains one of the most radical formulations in furniture design. Presumably the immediate forerunner was Heinz and Bodo Rasch’s eye-catching “Sitzgeiststuhl” (sitting spirit chair) of 1927. Its shape, which the Rasch brothers fashioned to match the posture of a person sitting, consisted of a base and a curved surface bent twice for the back and the upper and lower thighs.
Comparable to tendons in human limbs, the construction of the rounded side sections is thus stabilized. Rietveld abstracts from the quite complicated but structurally correct form to create a simple zigzag, but the logic of the construction suffers. Actually a whole series of tests were necessary to achieve a practical solution. “Zig-Zag” appears to completely contradict our ideas of a usable piece of furniture since its free-standing surfaces appear to collapse as soon as any weight is placed on them. However the chair is stabilized by dovetail joints between the seat and back, reinforcements with screws and nuts, as well as wooden wedges in the corners. Rietveld was very much aware of the discrepancy between the simple shape and the relatively complicated construction and said himself, it is not a chair but a “designer joke.” The actual goal of the design was to create a functional form which does not displace space but allows it to be perceived as a continuum; indeed, of Rietveld’s entire body of work the “Zig-Zag” represents the most economical example of such a form.
It is an uncompromising transposition of minimal requirements onto a chair, reduced to such an extent that even the screws appear to be decorative. An idea that always accompanied the history of furniture design – of mechanically producing a chair from a single continuous form – led Rietveld to his first experiments with bent, spliced plywood in 1927. In 1932 he began designing what later became the so-called “Zig-Zag” chair for the Amsterdam furniture manufacturer, Metz & Co. Plywood or chip wood on a metal frame was a failure, however. Not until 1934 did he succeed in creating a stable, very comfortable, and even stackable version. From 1935 this was produced with somewhat differing proportions, connections, and surface treatments by both Rietveld’s master cabinetmaker and Metz & Co., in great numbers up until the fifties. The model shown here stems from such a production in the thirties. The producer of today’s version of the “Zig-Zag” is the Cassina Company which purchased the rights to manufacture all of Rietveld’s furniture designs in 1971.
682 x 558 px swimjay 4 years ago Would be great to see more detail in the joinery--how the wedges function, the joining of the angled planes, etc. maluks 4 years ago melany 5 years ago stonybloke 5 years ago There are no details shown of the brass nuts and bolts which connect the seat with the diagonal and the diagonal and base. There are no screws involved, as you state. You can't make any comments, because you are not logged in. Log in or Register Zig Zag chair modelled and rendered in SolidWorks The Zig Zag-chair is a chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1934. It is a minimalistic design without legs, made by 4 flat wooden tiles that are merged in a Z-shape using Dovetail joints. It was designed for Rietveld's Rietveld Schröder House in Utrecht and is now produced by the Italian manufacturer Cassina S.p.A.. As one of the most important experimental chairs of its time, Rietveld's Zig Zag Chair from 1934 embodies the notion of pure abstraction.
Part of the heritage of the Dutch De Stijl movement, the geometric chair reveals a visually seamless form, which is in complete contrast to its complex construction. Gerrit Rietveld has simplified the design composition to the vertical and horizontal directions that create an asymmetrical perspective. The Zig Zag Chair's unique structure marks a sharp presence in any style-focused interior. Gerrit Rietveld has simplified the design composition to the vertical and horizontal directions that create an asymmetrical perspective. H74 x W37 x D43 cm (seat hight 43 cm) In addition to the varnished cherry-wood version, the Zig-Zag is now available in ash with either a natural finish or an open pore varnish in blue, red, yellow, black and white for the surfaces and natural ash for the sides. Made to order item Gerrit Thomas RietveldGerrit Rietveld (24 June 1888-26 June 1964) was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. One of the principal members of the Dutch artistic movement called De Stijl, Rietveld is famous for his Red and Blue Chair and for the Rietveld Schröder House, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Rietveld was the son of a joiner and began work as an apprentice to his father. He afterwards set up in business as a cabinet-maker. Rietveld designed his famous Red and Blue Chair in 1917. In 1918, he started his own furniture factory, and changed the chair's colors after becoming influenced by the 'De Stijl' movement, of which he became a member in 1919, the same year in which he became an architect. He designed his first building, the Rietveld Schröder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. Built in Utrecht on the Prins Hendriklaan 50, the house has a conventional ground floor, but is radical on the top floor, lacking fixed walls but instead relying on sliding walls to create and change living spaces. The design seems like a three-dimensional realization of a Mondrian painting. The house is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. Rietveld broke with the 'De Stijl' in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style of architecture known as either Nieuwe Zakelijkheid or Nieuwe Bouwen.