Jacobsen did not design this chair for a specific project, like he did with another of his famous chair, which has allowed to reinterpret and adapt it at different times. This chair gained its fame thanks to a protrait by Lewis Morley to the model Christine Keele.
The invited architects by Fritz Hansen for these reinterpretations have been Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Carlos Ott & Carlos Ponce de León, Jean Nouvel Design, Jun Igarashi, Neri & Hu, Snøhetta y Zaha Hadid Design.
We present the designs they have done and a description of them.
BIG.-
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is a Copenhagen and New York based group of architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development.
The office is currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. BIG’s architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes. Not least due to the influence from multicultural exchange, global economical flows and communication technologies that all together require new ways of architectural and urban organization. BIG believes that in order to deal with today’s challenges, architecture can profitably move into a field that has been largely unexplored.
The inspiration for the design is the materiality of the chair. The essence of the layered veneer and the functionality of the stacking. The final result is a subtle repetition of the iconic form language.
Carlos Ott Architects in association with Carlos Ponce de Léon Architects.-
Carlos Ott Architects in association with Carlos Ponce de León Architects, is a leading design architectural firm. Based at Zonamerica Business & Technology Park, Uruguay, South America, the firm has designed and directed large and mid-scale urban and architectural projects, as well as interior and furniture design, always looking for the best quality. The design of each process takes place under the direction of the design board, chaired by Carlos Ott and Carlos Ponce de León, to ensure consistency and encourage a shared knowledge base.
Celebra, a flagship building of the technological campus Zonamerica was the context for the design. "We decided to merge the chair and the building seamlessly with the restaurant. The chairs should be intervened the same way the vertical garden grows organically up the wall in the open-roof basement: The upholstery climbs and settles peacefully on the shell of the chair. The curved lines which compose the foundation of the different areas in the garden are mimicked and adapted to the anatomy of the chair".
Jean Nouvel Design.-
Jean Nouvel Design is a multidisciplinary team working in the fields of furniture design, interior design, scenography and visual communications. “I’m not a designer”, says Jean Nouvel. “I’m an architect who makes design.” Jean Nouvel’s oeuvre follows the tradition of philosopher architects who design whole worlds of all dimensions. Jean Nouvel is also a designer because he rejects labels: “I see no difference between when I design a chair and when I imagine a building. I see every project as a complete design program in itself. For every challenge posed, I seek the ‘elementary’ object whose finished form corresponds to an idea. It’s always a fitting and unique answer that bears witness, culturally and technically, to our times and to our civilization.”
The design is an example of Jean Nouvel's design signatures - contrasting colours and juxtapositions. Black and white mark each chair - although they still play together in a feminine and masculine flow - creating a reinforcement of the curves of the front and of the back of the shell.
Jun Igarashi Architects.-
Born on Hokkaido, 1970. Set up own practice Jun Igarashi Architects Inc., 1997. Instructor of Nagoya Institute of Technology. Has received numerous awards for his dedicated work including the AR Emerging Architecture Award.
Context: When buildings collapse during earthquakes the building materials are wasted. The idea is to collect the waste wood, introduce a colour and process it into boards that can be used for furniture.
Design: "In our work we have chosen the context of the wooden houses “house M” and “rectangle of light”. The unique qualities of the spaces are created by the sophisticated work with light and shadow forming a very quiet space. The quietness leaves room for the strong history of the making of the chair".
Neri&Hu Design & Research Office.-
Founded in 2004 by partners Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, Neri&Hu Design and Research Office is an inter-disciplinary architectural design practice based in Shanghai, China with an additional office in London, UK. Neri&Hu works internationally providing architecture, interior, master planning, graphic and product design services. Currently working on projects in many countries, Neri&Hu is composed of multi-cultural staff who speak over 30 different languages. The diversity of the team reinforces a core vision for the practice: To respond to a global worldview incorporating overlapping design disciplines for a new paradigm in architecture. Neri&Hu’s location is purposeful. With Shanghai considered a new global frontier, Neri&Hu is in the center of this contemporary chaos. The city’s cultural, urban and historic contexts function as a point of departure for the architectural explorations involved in every project.
The Waterhouse from 1930s in Shanghai was the context for this design. The idea of a replica, a re-edition hinges on the duality between the original and the re-design, such as it is also seen in the renovation of The Waterhouse. Our take on this project is to embrace this exact idea of duality and create an actual “double”. The doubling of two original seats facing each other becomes the new version: The singular chair multiplied as the individual becomes a community. Reminding us that we are never alone, but always together.
Snøhetta.-
Formed in 1989, Snøhetta is an award winning international architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture and brand design firm. The practice is centered on atrans-disciplinary approach where multiple professions work together to explore differing perspectives on the conditions for each project. A respect for diverse backgrounds and cultures is a key feature of the practice; reflecting this value, Snøhetta is composed of designers and professionals from around the world. Snøhetta is working method practicesa simultaneous exploration of traditional handicraft and cutting edge digital technology – a serendipitous relationship that drives our creative process.
"Rauland Mountain Church is placed on a slope on a balance point. The chair and the church have similar qualities. We envisioned that the chair would be fixed to its legs inside, and with the church being located on a ski slope you could click off the shell and bring it onto the slopes for an outdoor service. Since we set the chair free, we felt that the chair could be used for a large number of our projects. We try to maintain a good link to the outdoors through out our work and that’s why a outdoor chair is perfect for our projects".
Zaha Hadid.-
Zaha Hadid, founder of Zaha Hadid Architects, was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize (considered to be the Nobel prize of architecture) in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work. As an architect and designer, Zaha Hadid continues to redefine the limits of each discipline with works that defy categorization. Her designs explore spatial concepts at all scales, from the city to individual product, interior and furniture commissions. She was awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2004, becoming the first woman to receive architecture’s highest honor, and her Aquatics Centre was the centerpiece of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.