No matter where in the world you’re from, it is very likely that you have already sat
in this chair at some point in your life. This is the so-called Monobloc, probably the
best-selling chair in history. And still, it’s getting a lot of hate. So much that
in Basel, Switzerland the chair even became a political issue. For years it was forbidden
by law to place the chair in outdoor areas of ​​restaurants as people complained
that they destroy the cityscape. But how did we even get the Monobloc and is
it an example of good or bad design?
- percussion music -
You can find these chairs pretty much everywhere. Outside of cafés in Denmark, inside an office
in Tanzania or at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. These chairs made their way into our lives.
Now for anyone interested in design chair design is somewhat fascinating. Because one
might think that a chair would be an object that doesn't need to change fundamentally
over time. But, chairs do change. Chair design can adapt shape and material to a specific
function. It can break conventions by challenging our idea of what a chair should look like.
Just like in designing other objects, designing a chair requires finding ways to combine functionality
and visual appeal. But chair design can also reflect a certain zeitgeist. Like Marcel Breuer's
Wassily Chair, made out of tubular steel and inspired by bycicle production which was laying
the groundwork for much of modern design. Or with pop-art introducing strong colour
palletes in the 60s and 70s, and the advancements in space exploration inspiring futuristic
furniture in private homes, like a bunch of circle and egg-shaped designer chairs .
But the Monobloc is different. It is used so widely that it's sort of meaningless.
Take a look at this photo, where was it taken, and when?
It’s almost impossbile to tell.This is an observation made by american media scholar
and blogger Ethan Zuckerman who has described the monobloc as a context-free object.
We tend to associate most objects with a certain time or place. If someone shows us a random
photo, chances are that the objects in it will give us a hint as to when or where the
photo was taken. But the Monobloc chair hardly allows such
conclusions to be made.
The chairs can be found in all parts of the world. And it is an object, so ubiquitous,
that if you saw one laying around on a beach, you couldn’t be sure whether someone brought it there, or if it is a flotsam from a different part
of the planet. The monobloc might be a prime example of globalization,
but it can also be a reminder of how locally different other objects around us still are.
There are critical views on this chair and some rightly note that the Monobloc does not
represent sustainable design. Some see the chair as a prime example of mass consumption
of uniform goods that disregard any sense of individuality. Monoblocs can be used as
an argument against globalization as they represent a decline in local culture but we
can also turn this argument around. Their success does not come from nowhere. It's due
to the fact that they are affordable. And affordability matters, since it allows
social equality and economical advancement. The Monobloc is an object that is deeply democratic.You
might be thinking we are creating a lot of fuzz about a chair. But that's kinda the point.
Focussing on this object can allow us to think about more abstract questions. And these conflicting
views on the chair are part of the reason why many artists and designers have created
artwork using Monoblocs.
But where do these chairs originate from?
Arguably the first Monobloc, was made in 1946 by Canadian designer D.C Simpson. However
at the time, the moulding process was not suitable for cheap mass production and the
whole concept might have been a bit ahead of its time. But in the 60s, designers got
interested in the idea of plastic moulded chairs, notably the Bofinger Chair by Helmut
Bätzner and the Chair Universale by Joe Colombo, which was made of several individual molded
parts.
But maybe the most important step towards the monobloc was the introduction of a chair
that is now considered a classic in design.This is Verner Panton's single piece Cantilever
chair. Even if a comparison between the expensive designer chair and the less appreciated garden
chair may seem strange, the Panton chair is a technical predecessor, since it is the world's
first plastic chair that went into production using the same moulding method used in todays
Monoblocs. Plus, Verner Panton designed the chair in
a way that makes it stackable. After the success of the Panton chair, there were a number of
chairs worldwide that were inspired by this production method. And with the introduction
of cheaper thermoplastics, the path became clear for the mass production of the Monobloc.
In 1972, the French designer Henry Massonnet launched the Fauteuil 300. But it probably
took until 1983 when the Grosfillex group launched their Resin Garden Chair, that the
Monobloc was sold in large quantities at a cheap price.
The chair is produced by injection moulding. Here, polypropylene granules are heated to
220 degrees Celsius and injected into a mold, that forms the chair. The name Monobloc derives
from this method, as the end product is made from a single unbroken material.
The moulds for such production are expensive and can cost hundreds of thousands, sometimes
millions of dollars. But the production is greatly scalable, since it requires little
workforce, time and low material costs. As a result, a single chair in production only
costs about 3 USD and is usually sold for around 10 Dollars.
Today there are dozens of different Monobloc designs available. Ones with vertical or horizontal
slots or without them, with handles, in different shapes and all sorts of different colors.
But still, you know a Monobloc when you see one.
You could also see the chair as the result of some kind of market evolution. The chair
has evolved, with material thicknesses perfectly adjusted so that they are as thin and inexpensive
as possible, but still stable and durable. A chair that is weatherproof, stackable and
light. Fundamentally there is not much you can change about it, It works universally
around the globe.
Maybe it is a perfect design, that fulfils everything a designer aspires to. But you
might still hate it. And this is where context comes back to play. How we read a design depends
on our knowledge of it, and what it reminds us of. Maybe we just don't value it enough.
These white plastic chairs are everywhere, so we might as well start liking them.
Thank you so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed it - if you did: please leave a like
and subscribe that way you support more videos like this. Also if you want to read more about
this topic check out the video description for some links to articles that were really
helpful when making this video.