In this profusely illustrated study, a noted furniture designer brings together more than 40 examples of chairs that combine practicality and elegance to transcend the confines of period and fashion. Featured are such modern "classics" as Thonet's Bentwood armchair, Breuer's Wassily chair, van der Rohe's Barcelone chair, and many more. Each chair is described in detail with the aid of photographs, Mr. Meadmore's own explanatory drawings and some reproductions of the original designer's plans. The author also explores the ways in which the designers approached and solved inherent problems of function and aesthetics. The scale drawings in this book are all one-eighth of full size, allowing easy assessment of dimensions and visual comparison of size and proportion. Many of these chairs are housed in museum collections; others are still being produced today. Now, this inexpensive edition of The Modern Chair enables students of furniture and any interested reader to make a thorough study of the most important chairs of modern times.

"Clement Meadmore brings together more than thirty 'classic' modern chairs which are still in production, describing each in detail with the aid of photographs and his own explanatory drawings and some original designers' drawings, and examines the ways in which the designers approached and solved the functional and aesthetic problems involved in the design of each chair. The plans and elevations of the chairs are shown at a constant scale of one eighth full size, so that the dimensions can be easily ascertained and visual comparisons of size and proportion made"--Back cover.

Have you ever wondered where rocking chairs came from, or why cheap plastic chairs are suddenly everywhere? In Now I Sit Me Down, the distinguished architect and writer Witold Rybczynski chronicles the history of the chair from the folding stools of pharaonic Egypt to the ubiquitous stackable monobloc chairs of today. He tells the stories of the inventor of the bentwood chair, Michael Thonet, and of the creators of the first molded-plywood chair, Charles and Ray Eames. He reveals the history of chairs to be a social history--of different ways of sitting, of changing manners and attitudes, and of varying tastes. The history of chairs is the history of who we are. We learn how the ancient Chinese switched from sitting on the floor to sitting in a chair, and how the iconic chair of Middle America--the Barcalounger--traces its roots back to the Bauhaus. Rybczynski weaves a rich tapestry that draws on art and design history, personal experience, and historical accounts. And he pairs these stories with his own delightful hand-drawn illustrations: colonial rockers and English cabrioles, languorous chaise longues, and no-nonsense ergonomic task chairs--they're all here. The famous Danish furniture designer Hans Wegner once remarked, "A chair is only finished when someone sits in it." As Rybczynski tells it, the way we choose to sit and what we choose to sit on speak volumes about our values, our tastes, and the things we hold dear.

CHAIR TIMES takes viewers on a journey through a »sea of chairs:« 124 objects dating from 1807 to the latest 3D printed designs are arranged in the order of their production year to create a timeline of modern furniture design. Which objects would professionals in the design field want to talk about, bringing their expert knowledge to the respective topic? Serving as guide on this excursion into the history of seating design: Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra. Film by Heinz Bütler. With contributions by Rolf Fehlbaum, Mateo Kries, Franco Audrito, Ronan Bouroullec, Christian Brändle, David Chipperfield, Antonio Citterio, Pierre de Meuron, Jochen Eisenbrand, Ulrich Fiedler, Susanne Graner, Jacques Herzog, Hella Jongerius, Maira Kalman, Amelie Klein, Serge Mauduit, Peter Noever, Arthur Rüegg, Leonie Samland and Ruggero Tropeano.

From Alvar Aalto to Marco Zanuso, Chairs introduces over 1,000 groundbreaking innovations by the world's greatest designers. Tracing the history of the modern chair from 1800 to the present day, revered experts Charlotte and Peter Fiell comprehensively guide you through the fascinating world of seating design – from the functional office chair to the limited edition art piece. With more than 1,000 exquisite images alongside fascinating insights into the conception, design and production of these masterpieces, this definitive collection includes design classics such as Josef Hoffmann's Sitzmaschine, Robin Day's Polyprop and computer-generated masterworks by Zhang Zhoujie, amongst many more.