Saarinen and Jacobsen and Panton, Oh My!

Don't know if you've heard of Design Within Reach, but if you love modern furniture, this place is fully stocked with with licensed models by some of the top designers of our time. 

There was a Womb Chair, which was created by Finnish designer Eero Saarinen in 1948 for Florence Knoll. She wanted a chair to 'curl up in' and he delivered.

It features clean lines and a deep embracing seat which is incredibly comfortable.  This chair is easy on the eyes, too. The contrast of the steel legs with the red boucle fabric is striking. I want one. It is available in multiple finishes, from Aegean to microfiber.

As you can see, it is affordably priced for an authentic piece:

And I found a real Egg Chair, too! This is a lovely seat-leather finish standing on the steel pedestal.

It swivels (the first upholstered chair to do so) tilts (that makes it 'biomorphic') and has a firm and supportive back. Arne Jacobsen had the right idea when he created this for the SAS Royal Hotel in Cophenhagen back in 1958.

The price varies dependent on the finish. It starts at around $5000 and tops out at around $15000 before taxes. As you can see, the leather finish is at the high end:

Who could forget the Panton Chair? Prototypes were created by Verner Panton in 1960 with the seat going into production in 1967. Since then, it has been through three stages of development, produced by Vitra. This chair is a solid one piece and easily stackable. It is the first of its kind, a pioneer of the polypropylene, paving the way for the likes of Kartell.   The result is a strong and durable design that is clean and modern.

 

After sitting in it, I can see why they used them for the Olympics. They are strong, pretty and really well priced:

What a catch! This store has a few other tricks up it's sleeve and I can't wait to tell you all about it. In the meantime, you can find them on 435 King Street West (at King and Spadina). Take any any King/Spadina streetcar right to their front door.

Arne's Egg in a Clothing Store

Energie is not a place that I would expect to find a quality reproduction of Arne Jacobson's Egg Chair, but the one they have on display is quite convincing:

Theirs mimics the original, which -along with every other thing, right down to the cutlery and the building itself- was designed by Jacobsen in 1958 for the Radisson Blu Royal in Copenhagen.  The one piece structure, swooping curves and deep seated top create a very modernist feel. The pedestal leg is classic Egg and made of steel. Now, there are a few differences that helped to ID the reproduction: The fabric is an orange twill. The sewing lines (which can be seen clearly above) are much more pronounced; the seams on the original are hand-sewn and almost invisible. The other missing factor is Jacobsen's signature underneath of the seat, but that omission doesn't make it any less comfortable.

Check out the Energie Store in the Yorkdale Mall (Yorkdale Stn) to take a seat for yourself.