1. THECHAIRin the
20th
Century
The Cooper-Hewitt National
Design Museum
2 East 91st St New York, NY
The Chair is an 8 part series
focusing on the work of
Eileen Gray, Alvar Aalto, Mies
van der Rohe, Le Courbusier,
Arne Jacobsen, Charlotte Perri-
and, Marcel Breuer,
Charles & Ray Eames
The Chair in the 20th Century
The Cooper-Hewitt
Exhibition Series
Form and function interact
very closely in chair design.
“In chairs more than in any
other object, human beings are
the unit of measure,” Curator
Paola Antonelli explains, “and
designers are forced to walk
a fine line between standard-
ization and personalization.”
There are many factors that
must be considered in the
design of a chair. The design-
er must think about who will be
using it, and where. In some
cases, such as a seat on an
airplane, chairs are designed
for a general user. In other
instances, such as a cus-
tom built wheelchair, the chair
might be designed for a specif-
ic user. Each chair has its own
set of criteria or constraints that
govern the process of its
design.
Organically-shaped, clean-
lined and elegantly simple
are three terms that well de-
scribe Mid-century Modern
Americanfurniture.Thestyle,which
emerged primarily in the years
following World War II, is
characterized by pieces that
were conceived and made
in an energetic, optimistic
spirit by creators who
believed that good design was
an essential part of good living.
Post-war American archi-
tects and designers were an-
imated by new ideas and
new technology. The lean,
functionalist “International Style”
architecture of Le Corbusier and
Bauhaus eminences such as
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
and Walter Gropius had
been promoted in the Unit-
ed States during the ’30s by
Philip Johnson and others. New
building techniques, such as
“post-and-beam” constructio
allowed the International-style
schemes to be realized on a
small scale, in openplan houses
with long walls of glass.
Materials developed for war-
time use became available for
domestic goods and were in-
corporated into Mid centu-
ry Modern furniture designs.
Charles and Ray Eames and
Eero Saarinen, who had exper-
imented extensively with mold-
ed plywood, eagerly embraced
fiberglass for, respectively,
pieces such as the “La Chaise”
and the “Womb chair.” George
Nelson and his design team
created “Bubble Lamp” shades
using a new translucent
polymer skin. Harry Bertoia and
Isamu Noguchi devised chairs
and tables built of wire mesh
and wire struts. Materials were
re-purposed: the Danish-born
designer Jens Risom created a
line of chairs that used surplus
parachute straps for webbed
seats and backrests.
As the demand for casual, un-
cluttered furnishings grew,
more Mid-century designers
caught the spirit. Classically
oriented creators such as
Edward Wormley, house de-
signer for Dunbar Inc., of-
fered such pieces as the sin-
uous “Listen to Me” chaise;
the British expatriate T.H.
Robsjohn-Gibbings switched
gears, creating items such as
the tiered, biomorphic “Mesa
table.” There were Young Turks
such as Paul McCobb — who
designed holistic groups of sleek,
blonde-wood furniture — and
chairs and sofas with angular
steel frames.
FORM&FUNCTION
March 4, 2016
to May 30, 2016

2. “Every truly original idea—ev-
ery innovation in design, every
new application of materials,
every technical invention for
furniture—seems to find its
most important expression in
a chair.”
PublicPrograms
March 24, 2016 7 PM
The Chair as Anthropomorphc Object/Cul-
tural Object. Simon Critchley, New School
University, NY
April 10, 2016 7PM
Why chairs. David Burn, Musician, Artist
Well, they have arms and legs and vaguely
human scale — and shape.
They’re people — they hold you, support
you, elevate you or humble you.
They’re funny or elegant, funky or gor-
geous, social or aloof.
They’re characters with lives and histo-
ries...aren’t they?
April 20, 2016 7PM
Sitting through history. Chair designs
through the ages.
Material, Technology, Society.
Paula Antonelli, MOMA design curator.
May 11, 2016 7PM
Utopia and Post-war chair design. Rob
Roy Kelley, Dwell Magazine.
Admission Adults, $15, Children, $10
Days Wed.- Mon, Closed Tuesdays
Hours 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
www.cooperhewitt.org
(212) 849-8400