Iconic chair series: Architecture, Art & Chair Design
nicola butcher
My next iconic chair was designed by an architect, many iconic chairs were as architects looked to reflect the design aesthetic of their building into the interior.
Hector Guimard (1867 – 1942) was a French architect famous for bringing Art Nouveau to France in the late 19th century. Most well known for his iconic metro entrances in Paris, he also designed stunning chairs that typified the artistic elegance and organic shapes of the movement. This is my favourite of Guimard’s chairs, designed for the Maison Coilcott (1898-1900). I love its simple, organic shapes, Art Nouveau at it's best!
Art Nouveau aimed to modernize chair design and bring as much respect to craft based decorative arts as was reserved for art or sculpture. Though it lost favour in the 1920s to Art Deco, it is now commonly seen as the precursor to modernism.
