The New York Times had such an interesting article recently, Gentle Readers. It’s called, “The 25 Most Defining Pieces of Furniture From the Last 100 Years.” The word “defining” is problematic, of course, so the subtitle attempts to clarify: “the most enduring and significant objects for living.”
The title did NOT include the overused word, “iconic.”
Some of the items on the list are familiar…
…and some are conspicuous by their absence.
(Side note, Gentle Readers: If you covet a Barcelona or Eames lounge chair, please make every effort to purchase an original, whether vintage or recently produced by a licensed manufacturer. Knockoffs are everywhere, but buying them is not fair to the designers or the companies who originally took the risk of manufacturing them. Plus the quality of knockoffs tends to be crap.)
I’ll confess: I’m not a fan of all 25 selections. No one is! But I love that I don’t recognize every item on the list — indeed, I don’t even know all of the designers. (I probably shouldn’t admit that, actually. Forget I said it.)
Here are 5 items from the list that caught my eye for different reasons. One item I’ve used for years, one I continue to use in my designs, and three I would like to incorporate into a future project.
Let’s begin with the Louis Ghost chair by Philippe Starck.
I will open this section with Julianne Moore’s quote about the Louis Ghost Chair: “I hate this chair so much.” She really is the best.
I do NOT hate the Louis Ghost chair, but I will confess that I’m mighty tired of it. But here’s why it’s so popular: it looks great in contexts from traditional to contemporary, it’s pretty small, and it’s surprisingly comfortable. In my interior design plans, I’ve used it as a desk chair, an occasional chair, and as dining chairs. But again, I don’t source it anymore because it’s too expected.
A piece I continue to use today is Billy Baldwin’s Slipper Chair, which he designed in the 1950s.
To be honest, I’d forgotten that the slipper chair actually WAS designed, you know? It’s so ubiquitous, so part of the upholstered furniture types available to us, that I forgot that it has an official creator.
Armless, petite, low-to-the-ground chairs started in the boudoir, but Mr. Baldwin made them sleeker and more modern and brought them into the living room.
As I scrolled through the objects, I thought, “I should make an effort to use some of these pieces.” Here are three.
First, the elegant Butaque chair designed by Clara Poset in (possibly) the 1930s.
Isn’t it graceful? I love the rattan version (likely the original) pictured above, but today, Luteca manufactures versions in synthetic rattan or hemp webbing — and in leather as a collaboration with MoMA. The leather one (which Poset made more austere for the architect Luis Barragàn) looks hard to me and isn’t nearly as interesting as the curvier caned.
In any event, I’d love to use the Butaque chair in a large room in which at least one other piece is low-slung. The clients must be agile, though: this chair is undoubtedly easier to get into than out of.
Second, the LC14 Tabouret Cabanon, designed by Le Corbusier in 1952. It’s the little box thing in the picture below:
It’s multi-purpose: it’s a stool, it’s a table, it’s a storage box…actually, that’s what it is: a box. But it’s kind of elegant with the lovely proportions and dovetail joints.
Now, this is not a piece I could put into one of my usual designs, with lots of color and pattern and primarily classic furniture. It’s too rustic. But my mother-in-law’s weekend house…that’s the perfect place for a few of these. That house is genuinely midcentury, and these would be great to have around as stools and tables. I kind of like them set up this way:
Finally, you might be surprised, but I’d actually like to figure out how I could use the Due Più chair, which Nanda Vigo designed in 1971.
They’re upholstered in Mongolian sheepskin, so apologies to my vegetarian and vegan friends; maybe it would be possible to do a synthetic instead? A bouclé or mohair? There’s something really interesting about the long shaggy fur, though.
The Due Più chairs are so NOT ME, right? I’m not usually a fan of tubular chrome. (I’m child of the ’70s, so that particular material is triggering for me.) But there’s something about these that appeals. I think I could put two in a living room with a clean-lined, heavy sofa. One of the compilers of the list mentions that the chair isn’t that comfortable “after a while,” but I wonder what that means? Oddly, they look kind of comfy to me!
What do you think? Will YOU be the client who agrees to the design that incorporates one of these “defining pieces of furniture?”
Let’s find out, shall we?
*Unless noted, all of the photographs were taken from the NYT article. Please don’t sue me, NYT. This blog is for educational purposes and will only increase the number of people who read your article.
Annie Elliott Design, a residential interior design firm, is based in Washington, D.C.