The Emeco Chair by Adrian Van Hooydonk of BMW DesignWorks USA. This was a fun design to draw, as it is simple, solid, and very American. Emeco was well known for its all aluminum chairs designed for the U.S. Military during WWII. This chair is a reinterpretation of the Original designed in the 1940's. This chair features a fiber glass seat pan and back with aluminum square tubing for the frame. I've sat in this chair and I can say it really is comfortable, given the materials it's made of. I think what makes it comfortable is the highly organic / sculpted seat pan. It fit my "bottom" quite well and I didn't feel an incessant need to shift around in it. What inspires me about this chair is that it's a reinterpretation of a classic symbol of American design, yet it feels fresh and contemporary even today. It feels and looks solid as well, speaking to an integrity in American design and manufacturing that is all but gone in today's globalized economy. I'm not nationalistic, but I can't help getting excited about hearing an American muscle car roaring down the road, or in this case, sit in a high quality chair made in the USA. It's more about the integrity of doing a product well than making it in a particular country. If a company takes the time to make it here (because it's insanely expensive to do so here) they usually also take the time to make it well. I really hope to own this chair some day!
Thanks for stopping by everyone!
-Park
A few comments:
ReplyDelete1) I don't think it's nationalistic to say you're excited about it being designed and manufactured in the United States. I couldn't agree more that it's wonderful for it to have happened that way. They toss the quality out the window to make more of a profit by producing things overseas. I've purchased my share of clothing here made in the US, and it's a heck of a lot better than some of the clothing you could find made here in Japan. Japan is also guilty of manufacturing overseas -- you'll often find products made in China, Viet Nam, etc...
2) I haven't seen Emeco chairs before, so I googled one for reference. Compared to what I see, the back of your chair from the side angle looks to be leaning farther back than the real one. My perception could be incorrect based on the photos, however.