Model 3107 chair

Series 7 is a series of stackable wooden chairs, designed by Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen. Manufacturer of chairs is the Danish furniture manufacturer Fritz Hansen, whose former CEO Poul Fritz Hansen was involved in the development of the series. Since the 1950s, more than 5 million chairs of the series have been sold.

Development

Prior to the development of the first chair of the Series 7 1955 1952 was the chair " Myren / The Ant " ( dän. / Eng. , The ant ). Jacobsen took advantage of this new technology in the processing of layer-glued veneer sheets. Using steam, it was possible to deform the plate in two dimensions. Jacobsen was inspired by the work of the American designer couple Charles and Ray Eames, according to them, the style is also called " Eames Design". The Eames worked 1945-1947 with the material layer wood and experimenting with new ways of doing deformation of the material. In phase resulted in several shows, including chairs of five parts in shaped wood. The work of the Eames were received with interest in both specialist furniture world as well as in art. The Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1946 awarded the first solo show ever at the work of the Eames plywood under the title " New Design furniture by Charles Eames ."

Jacobsen was based on the works of Eames, as in 1952 he designed the ant for the canteen of the Danish company Novo. He turned away with the order for 140 chairs at Fritz Hansen. The manufacturer wanted to produce from a number of 300 but only so that Jacobsen promised the remaining 160 chairs to buy even if they could not be sold.

The ant had three legs in tubular steel and was one of the first chairs, who had a seat shell made of a single piece of plywood. This was made possible by a strong sidecut the contour at the junction of the seat and back. One detail that also have all models of the Series 7. The seat consists of nine laminated layers, between the front and back layer is a cotton fabric is introduced. At 122 ° C the structure of wood for two minutes under a pressure of 94 tons is pressed into the mold and then left to stand for five days.

With the objective to construct a low-cost, compact chair modern environments created on the two parts, the seat shell and the metal tube frame, reducing construction. After the ant Jacobsen developed the Model 3107 and further versions of the 7 Series, which also had more complex substructures like a roller frame with a swivel function. The surface of the shell is available in natural wood, in various woodworking and fully or partially covered with different fabrics or leather.

Use and Reception

Jacobsen, who tried to create complete works of art in its construction, the series used for the establishment of his designed buildings, such as for the Assembly rooms in the Mainz town hall or the restaurant on the 20th floor of the SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.

While photographs posed Christine Keeler 1963 naked upside down on a duplicate of Siebeners as sitting, that the backrest covered her upper body and groin area. The photos were released to the wedding of the Profumo affair, after Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and John Profumo, the British Defense Minister, resigned because of Profumo's affair with Keeler. The photos made ​​for a rapid increase in sales of the original.

Chairs of the series were included in the collection of several museums. The Design Museum Danmark in Copenhagen dedicated a room of the permanent exhibition of the series 7 display are there in a series of 20 chairs from the model 3107, which were edited by Danish artists. Also at the Museum of Modern Art in New York is a chair Series 7, a black 3107, issued together with the previously developed model The Ant.

Models

The previous models of the Series 7 was the ant, which was later manufactured in two versions:

  • 3100: Ant with three legs
  • 3101: Ant with four legs

The following series 7 models are in production today:

  • 3107: Chair with four legs
  • 3117: Chair with swivel base
  • 3177: children chair
  • 3207: Chair with four legs and armrests
  • 3217: Chair with swivel base and armrests

More chair models from the hand Jacobsen, the design with the Series 7 shared are:

  • 3130: Chair with wooden or metal legs and a two-winged backrest. The chair won at the XI. Triennale di Milano in 1957 the Grand Prix and therefore bears the name " Grand Prix"
  • 3208: Chair with four legs and curved armrests, named "Lily"
  • 3218: Chair with swivel base and curved armrests, named "Lily"
Ant (chair) Novo Nordisk Danish Museum of Art & Design Grand Prix (chair)
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