Chair-Spotting: Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

"It's very modern. It's so well designed you wouldn't want to breathe in it, no matter fart in it. There's these chairs, plastic but without legs, curved like an s; they seem to work by means of their own fold; and they fit together, about two hundred of them in ten rows; and they snake around you when you sit in them - soft yet supportive! Comfy! Modern!"

- Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

Greetings, chair connoisseurs and other appreciators of well-designed sundries! Does the description of this chair sound familiar? Oh, incidentally I am Christine and Becca has generously allowed me to guestblog.

Zadie Smith’s novel White Teeth is one of the bona fide critical and commercial successes published in the past decade; Smith explores several generations of families in England, many of whom are immigrants, with humour and grace. The above passage comes from the end of the novel: multiple plot threads intertwine at the much-hyped reveal of the scientific triumph known as FutureMouse. This modern chair emphasizes the modern paradigm signified by the FutureMouse, a mindset which exerts its pressures upon the different characters struggling to define their identities in the modern world. Modern modern modern. We can see the narrator slipping in snippets of humour amidst the admiration of the chair design: this modernity seems to defy human frailties – one mustn’t dare fart in its presence!

Have you figured out the name of the chair? Hint: the name of the chair is in the passage.

If you guessed Danish designer Vernor Panton’s iconic Stacking chair, otherwise known as the S chair, you would be correct!

This isn’t the S chair’s first appearance on this blog: in a previous edition of Chair-Spotting, Jody noted the ubiquity of Panton’s design at the Vancouver Olympics, and in a later post, Becca found the S chair in Design Within Reach (435 King Street).

I can’t help but wonder what other meanings Zadie Smith might be hinting at with Panton’s S chair. Are we to read the effortless autonomy of the chair’s design in contrast with the inextricably and painfully linked characters? Perhaps the mass manufacture of these chairs that are so easily stored and stacked belies the rich diversity of the characters and their complex and clashing ideologies.

On a more prosaic level, I muse over whether the S chairs at the FutureMouse reveal are the more expensive Classic S chairs with the lacquered surface, or the latest pure plastic S chair design that is cheaper and more easily produced.

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.