Miniatures Womb Chair & Ottoman
vitra > Styling
The Womb Chair is regarded as one of the icons of postwar American Modernism. Designed by Eero Saarinen in 1946 and manufactured by Knoll International since 1948 (originally as Model No. 70), this armchair is the first piece of mass produced furniture in the history of design with an integrated seat shell made of fibre reinforced plastic. The expansive foam upholstered shell, which has two inset cushions for added comfort, is supported by a bent tubular steel frame. <br/><br/>Saarinen developed the Womb Chair in close collaboration with a boat builder. His stated intention was to design a chair that would allow a variety of sitting positions and create a special feeling of relaxation and cosiness. This central design concept finds vivid expression in its name.
Miniatures Diamond Chair
vitra > Styling
Harry Bertoia, who came from Italy, originally dedicated himself to sculpting. He created a series of chairs and seats using techniques he was familiar with from gold work and sculpting with iron wire. Until 1953 he developed these ideas together with specialists from the Knoll company until they were ready for mass production.<br/><br/>The structure of the »Diamond Chair« clearly separates the different functions of the chair: the transparent wire shell is bent out of a quadratic lattice into an organically shaped diamond like a net frozen in space, and the base of round iron embraces it like a polished diamond. <br/><br/>Bertoia considered his furniture to resemble his sculptures and explained: »In chairs many functional problems have to be solved first, but basically chairs are also studies in space, form and metal. On close inspection it becomes clear that they are mostly made up of air. Space flows right through them.«
