Saw this post about Ando's new chair design, titled the "Dream Chair". Thought there might be many Ando fans out there that might be interested to see. Glad to see his name will be among the great architects that have designed timeless chairs as well!
Some obvious problems here. The bucket shape is confining and not well suited to a lounge chair. The wood models seem to be slippery chutes with a tendency to eject the occupant, thus the addition of padding, which is generally considered a basic part of a lounge chair. On the plus side the chair moves a bit, creating the illusion that it is adapting itself to you. Aesthetically it's pretty awful. The only reason this got produced was Ando's name. He should stick to architecture. Look at the Eames lounge chair for comparison.
As far as great architects making timeless chair designs, that is a short list and doesn't include very many in the past 50 years. Certainly not Gehry, Hadid, Libeskind, Graves, Meier, Stern, etc. Not that I would consider any of them great architects, either.
The old school furniture architects (Mies, Breuer, Aalto, Corbu, Hoffman, etc.) were Bauhaus trained or Bauhaus era with the sensibilities of the times. Wright's furniture is similar to the craftsman style popular at the time. Greene and Greene were hugely influential on many including possibly Wright, both were working in California at the turn of the century.
Just because industrial designers can do architecture doesn't mean that architects can do industrial design. Zumthor is a notably exception, but he was raised in a cabinetmakers shop.
the top part looks like an infant car seat...and there's even what looks like a poop hole. i suppose if you stick a bucket below it, it would be quite the avant garde baby potty cum car seat.
it looks a bit like the floor chairs they use in japan to sit on tatami (just seats, no legs). maybe that is where he started...
a few years back i went to an exhibit of 100 awesome chairs by architects, and we could sit in them to check out the functional side of things with some personal experimentation. wright sucked. mackintosh was wobbly. gaudi was uncomfortable. saarinen was awesome and charles eames was seriously comfy if stodgy. gehry's chairs were also comfy, and my favorite still.
we have a few of the designery chairs in our office and at home. the bauhaus was not always that shit hot when it came to function. turns out that training ain't everything.
^Funny thing about chairs, one size does not fit all.
The Barcelona chair is beautiful but impossible (for me) to sit in. Yet it remains a classic design that has inspired generations of designers. One should keep in mind that it was designed solely for the exhibition, for which it was well suited.
it's true about different chairs for different people. the barcelona chair is one of my favorite EVER to sit in. i spent a lot of hours sitting (and dozing) in one in the architecture library at my school.
this ando chair doesn't look very comfortable, but i'd withhold judgment until i tried it.
Tadao Ando: "Dream Chair" - His First Chair Design
Saw this post about Ando's new chair design, titled the "Dream Chair". Thought there might be many Ando fans out there that might be interested to see. Glad to see his name will be among the great architects that have designed timeless chairs as well!
http://www.designswelove.com/2013/04/22/tadao-andos-dream-chair-revealed-milan/
Some obvious problems here. The bucket shape is confining and not well suited to a lounge chair. The wood models seem to be slippery chutes with a tendency to eject the occupant, thus the addition of padding, which is generally considered a basic part of a lounge chair. On the plus side the chair moves a bit, creating the illusion that it is adapting itself to you. Aesthetically it's pretty awful. The only reason this got produced was Ando's name. He should stick to architecture. Look at the Eames lounge chair for comparison.
As far as great architects making timeless chair designs, that is a short list and doesn't include very many in the past 50 years. Certainly not Gehry, Hadid, Libeskind, Graves, Meier, Stern, etc. Not that I would consider any of them great architects, either.
The old school furniture architects (Mies, Breuer, Aalto, Corbu, Hoffman, etc.) were Bauhaus trained or Bauhaus era with the sensibilities of the times. Wright's furniture is similar to the craftsman style popular at the time. Greene and Greene were hugely influential on many including possibly Wright, both were working in California at the turn of the century.
Just because industrial designers can do architecture doesn't mean that architects can do industrial design. Zumthor is a notably exception, but he was raised in a cabinetmakers shop.
the top part looks like an infant car seat...and there's even what looks like a poop hole. i suppose if you stick a bucket below it, it would be quite the avant garde baby potty cum car seat.
i love it!
that shit cray
too bad. i thought it was going to be some bad ass concrete dealy.
Two different ideas/designs here - top and bottom. Ditch the curved bottom for four tapered legs (or something else) and you've got a nice chair.
it looks a bit like the floor chairs they use in japan to sit on tatami (just seats, no legs). maybe that is where he started...
a few years back i went to an exhibit of 100 awesome chairs by architects, and we could sit in them to check out the functional side of things with some personal experimentation. wright sucked. mackintosh was wobbly. gaudi was uncomfortable. saarinen was awesome and charles eames was seriously comfy if stodgy. gehry's chairs were also comfy, and my favorite still.
we have a few of the designery chairs in our office and at home. the bauhaus was not always that shit hot when it came to function. turns out that training ain't everything.
^Funny thing about chairs, one size does not fit all.
The Barcelona chair is beautiful but impossible (for me) to sit in. Yet it remains a classic design that has inspired generations of designers. One should keep in mind that it was designed solely for the exhibition, for which it was well suited.
put some arms on it and it's a dentist's chair.
I too was hoping for a concrete chair.
i love my wassily chairs.
i think it looks ok, but i'd have to sit in it to make a decision
it's true about different chairs for different people. the barcelona chair is one of my favorite EVER to sit in. i spent a lot of hours sitting (and dozing) in one in the architecture library at my school.
this ando chair doesn't look very comfortable, but i'd withhold judgment until i tried it.
Our wasilly chair is beautiful but hard to climb out of :-)
It's amazing how ando went from making pure geometric chairs in the 80's to this thing. With apologies, it seems perfect for the shopping channel.
My wassily chair is one of the few possessions I covet.
I was hoping for something better from Ando. The base and seat are fighting eachother.
Architects rarely do good furniture, but I agree with Will Galloway in his observations. The Gehry cardboard stuff is pretty (surprisingly) comfy.
Miles, calling Gehry's chair anything but a classic is just ridiculous. Not a huge fan of his architecture, but thing is beautiful and comfy.
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