Architecture
Chair Arch
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Posted by Niki Fulton at 14:50 PM in Architecture
While I was in London last week at 100% Design, I was lucky enough to have a quick look at the Wallpaper Magazine Chair Arch which is part of London Design Festival.
The chair arch is the brain child of Wallpaper Magazine’s Design Editor, Henrietta Thompson. She was inspired by the Victorian tradition of using chairs from town halls to decorate streets in times of celebration. The first chair arch was constructed in 1877 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s visit to Hughenden Manor. So impressed with the chair arch, Queen Victoria asked for her coach to stop so she could have a closer inspection.
Wallpaper asked London designer Martino Gamper to design the arch and together with engineers Atelier One they have constructed an organic form which sweeps over the courtyard of the V&A in two arches resembling a spine of a vertebrate - like an exhibit from the Natural History Museum next door! The 160 chairs manufactured by Ercol are all self supporting and stained in a variety of colours to resemble a rainbow.
Ironically, this particular Ercol chair, model 392, was designed in 1956, and the designer went to great length to make sure it would stack in a vertical pile!
Many thanks to Wallpaper Magazine for the photograph.
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