Monday 3 August 2020

monobloc

Thanks to Pasa Bon! for enlightening us about the name and design history of the ubiquitous plastic chair—so called as it’s forged as a single piece from polypropylene.
Based originally on the drafts of Canadian designer D.C. Simpson and informed by the success of industrial artist Joe Colombo’s Chair Universal 4867 in 1965, production of the stool began in the 1970s with close to a billion in existence. Their affordableness and easy deployability somewhat discounts their endurance to the elements as a consequence of our disposable society but there are creative ways to mend broken seats—which seems like a quite worthwhile endeavour since we’ll have to live with them forever. Much more to explore at the link above, including repairs and intervention ideas plus a short documentary on the Monobloc.