Chair Database
Plastic Chair
Designed by:
Arens E
Co-Designed by:
–
Designer:
Egmont Arens
Co-Designer:
–
Country of Origin (Designer):
USA
Date of Design:
1947
Date of Manufacture:
1947
Decade:
1940s
Region:
Americas
Significance:
Moulded plastic/ enamelled metal
Manufacturer:
General American Transportation Company
Country of Origin (Manufacturer):
USA
Material:
Bakelite
Process:
Pressure moulded
Monobloc:
No
Cantilever:
No
Renewable Carbon:
No
ERPR Score:
NA
ERPR Rating:
NA
Weight:
Note:
Arens worked in plastics during the immediate post-war years and developed this chair, with a moulded plastic seat and enameled metal legs, in 1947, when he was nearly 60 years old. Arens was an early pioneer of ergonomic design, attempting to make a more comfortable chair he adopted some unorthodox methods including, ‘taking clay impressions of fat, skinny and in-between posteriors’. A 500-ton press was used to force plastic (most likely Bakelite) into a mould to create the shell for this design in one-piece. Chairs were produced at the rate of one every eight minutes. The chairs were manufactured by the General American Transportation Corp. (now GATX Corp.), founded in 1898 to make and lease railroad cars.
Image Credit:
Vitra Design Museum