Iconic Chair Series: The Barcelona chair

After a recent drive through Barcelona I thought I’d dedicate this month’s blog to the fabulous and famous MR90 chair, more commonly known as the Barcelona chair.

The chair came out of the modernist architecture movement and was designed by Ludwig Mies van de Rohe and Lilly Reichor for the German Pavillion. It was that country’s entry for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. Modernist yet opulent this chair is a design icon and remains as popular today as it has always been.

Since 1953 Knoll hold the license to produce the chair, and despite its modernist form much of the chair is hand-made.

Lush, I want one!

Iconic chair series: Architecture, Art & Chair Design

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.

Iconic Chair Series: The Bentwood Chair

Starting with the bentwood chair this is my celebration of history’s most iconic designs.

Sitting was not so enjoyable in the early 19th century. Chairs tended to be dark, heavy and uncomfortable. Thankfully a new generation of designers came forward as the industrial revolution got into swing. They experimented with techniques that could be used for mass production and created a more comfy seat.

In 1808 Boston chair maker Samuel Gragg led the charge, bending solid wood with hot steam to create his ‘elastic’ chair range. Beautiful yet simple curved chairs that predated the better known wood bender Michael Thonet’s by 40 yrs. However Thonet took the art of wood bending to the masses with his No 14 chair. Its lightness, simplicity and timeless aesthetic is just as relevant today as it was 160 yrs ago. By 1930 50 million examples had been sold worldwide.

This chair transports me to a Parisian café, watching the world go by. And that’s what an iconic chair does… makes connections beyond its physical purpose.

Samuel Gragg Elastic chair

Michael Thonet No14 chair

What makes the perfect dog bed?

I love my bed and spend ages choosing the perfect squashy mattress, feather light yet warm duvets, and squidgy pillows. But when it comes to dog beds there doesn't seem to be much choice. I can't find quite the right thing for my little buddy Jack.

We decided we could do better. We've created our range of top quality dog beds with comfort, durability and style in mind. But as with everything we are always looking for ways to improve.

We'd love to hear from you. What do you look for in a dog bed? What fillings, fabrics, size, shape and so on. What do you like and what's a no-no? 

Add your comments below...cheers!

Beautiful fabrics come rain or shine...

It may be only Autumn... but here at Alderbury Jack HQ we're looking forward to spring already.

The reason for this started at Decorex... an amazing interior design show held annually in the grounds of beautiful Sion Park. Whilst visiting the many fabric houses exhibiting, we were amazed and delighted to find a stunning range of outdoor fabrics that you would struggle to tell apart from indoor fabrics. Great designs, soft tactile fabrics and incredibly durable, we were assured you could leave this out for the summer months and it will just wipe clean. We can't wait to work with them.

So if like us you are looking for something special for your outside space, check out the Portico collection by Thibaut Design (thibaultdesign.com).

And then contact us to discuss a project in these fabrics :)