Monobloc (chair)
Materials | Polypropylene |
---|
The Monobloc chair is a lightweight stackable polypropylene chair, usually white in colour, often described as the world's most common plastic chair.[1] The name comes from mono- ("one") and bloc ("block"), meaning an object forged in a single piece.
History
Variants of the one-piece plastic chair designed by Canadian
Since then, millions have been manufactured around the world.Production and usage
The Monobloc chair is so named because it is
Close to a billion Monoblocs have been sold in Europe alone, with one Italian manufacturer producing over ten million a year in 2004. [8] The chairs cost approximately $3.50 to produce in 2011, making them both affordable and ubiquitous - in the billions -[9] worldwide. Numerous variants exist.[10] Their light weight and stackable design eases both their deployment and storage, even for large gatherings. [11] (One modern design weighs 2.7 kg, half that of the standard make, and can be stacked 24 high.)[12] They are also prevalent in both corporate and individual outdoor usage due to features such as the slits on seat and backrest which rain water and wind pass through, their wide base which resists their occupants tipping over, and their sheer utility and replaceability. [13]
Social reception
The monobloc chair has been a controversial piece of furniture. Many people, including
Monobloc plastic chairs were banned from public spaces in the city of Basel, Switzerland from 2008[15] to 2017[16][17] to preserve the beauty of cityscape.
Exhibitions
- 2017: Monobloc. A chair for the world at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein.[18]
- 2018: Honor Cheap Furniture by Martí Guixé at Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome.[19][20]
Gallery
-
Massed
-
Stacked
-
As former flotsam
References
- ^ Alter, Bonnie (November 18, 2010). "Is This the World's Most Famous Chair?". TreeHugger. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
- ^ Rashid, Karim (September 13, 2015). "A brief history of the humble plastic chair". CNN. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "Monobloc – Ein Stuhl für die Welt" [Monobloc - A chair for the world]. Vitra Design Museum (in German). 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ a b c Suzdaltsev, Jules (January 28, 2015). "White Plastic Chairs Are Taking Over the World". VICE. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ van den Elshout, Guido J. (December 27, 2011). "Monobloc Chair: Joe Colombo and Vico Magistretti". Chair Blog. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Gosnell, Mariana (July 2004). "Everybody Take A Seat". Smithsonian.
- ^ Chair, Misunderstood (Audio). Every Little Thing. July 3, 2017. Event occurs at 20 minute 20 seconds.
- ^ "the monobloc plastic chair". designboom. June 8, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ https://designwanted.com/monobloc-chair/
- ^ a b "Those White Plastic Chairs – The Monobloc and the Context-Free Object | … My heart's in Accra". Ethan Zuckerman. April 7, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
The Monobloc is one of the few objects I can think of that is free of any specific context. Seeing a white plastic chair in a photograph offers you no clues about where or when you are.
- ^ HAMADA, Midori (April 4, 2012). "A Cadeira Monobloco (The Monobloc Chair)". OBVIOUS Magazine (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- ^ Lindsay, Calum (August 4, 2020). "€77 Bell Chair by Konstantin Grcic for Magis is made in less than a minute". Dezeen. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
- ^ Niermann, Ingo (August 26, 2004). "Ingo Niermann: Plastic Chair". functionalfate.org. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
- ^ Niermann, Ingo (August 26, 2004). "Ingo Niermann: Plastic Chair". functionalfate. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
- from the original on August 31, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Basel rüstet auf: Foodtrucks ab sofort erlaubt und Plastikstühle wieder willkommen". TagesWoche (in Swiss High German). February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ "Grossräte wollen die Lex Plastikstuhl zurück". TagesWoche (in Swiss High German). March 20, 2017. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
- ^ Der Allgegenwärtige (The Omnipresent) in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 30 April 2017, Page 53
- ^ "MARTI GUIXE - GUIXE.COM | Honour Cheap Furniture A.P. Chairs". www.guixe.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
- ^ "Honour Cheap Furniture di Martí Guixé". La Galleria Nazionale. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
External links
- Designboom - History of the Monobloc
- Plastikstuhl - Blog dedicated to Monobloc Chairs
- Plasticchair.org – Blog aiming to gather a Monobloc plastic chair picture from every country
- Chair, Misunderstood: Learning to love a viral piece of furniture. - Podcast discussing history of the Monobloc by Gimlet Media