Philosophy:Tulip chair
Template:Infobox furniture The Tulip chair was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1955 and 1956[1] for the Knoll company of New York City.[2] The designs were initially entitled the 'Pedestal Group' before Saarinen and Knoll settled on the more organic sounding 'Tulip chair' to mirror its inspiration from nature.[3] It was designed primarily as a chair to match the complementary dining table. The chair has the smooth lines of modernism and was experimental with materials for its time. The chair is considered a classic example of industrial design.
The chair is often considered "Space Age" for its futuristic use of curves and artificial materials.
Design and construction
Saarinen said: "The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world. I wanted to clear up the slum of legs. I wanted to make the chair all one thing again."[4]
Saarinen had hoped to produce the chair as a one piece unit made entirely of fiberglass, but this material was not able to support the base, and prototypes were prone to breakage. As a result, the base of the tulip chair is of cast aluminum with a rilsan-coated finish to match the upper shell, giving the appearance of a single unit. The upper shell is molded fiberglass, with a reinforced, plastic bonded finish.[1] The upholstered foam cushion is removable with Velcro fastening.[2]
Saarinen was awarded a patent for the Tulip chair in 1960.[5]
Awards
- Museum of Modern Art Award, 1969[2]
- Federal Award for Industrial Design, 1969[2]
- Design Center Stuttgart Award, 1962[2]
Project Cybersyn
In 1971 a modified form of the Tulip chair was used in the design of Project Cybersyn.[6]
See also
- List of chairs
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Eero Saarinen. Tulip Armchair (model 150): 1955-56.". Museum of Modern Art. http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=2565.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "KnollStudio Tulip Chair". knoll.com. http://www.knoll.com/products/product.jsp?prod_id=39.
- ↑ "A Tulip Design History" (in en). https://www.littletulip.com/pages/history.
- ↑ Ronan, Alex (January 28, 2015). "Design Dictionary: Tulip Chair". Dwell magazine. https://www.dwell.com/article/design-dictionary-tulip-chair-291e5971.
- ↑ Tulip chair
- ↑ Free As In Beer: Cybernetic Science Fictions accessed April 7, 2012
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