Chairs of Hunt Library

Take a seat. Updates every Wednesday.

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Rollingframe Arm Chair

Designer: Alberto Meda

Location: 2nd Floor Check out desk, Staff offices 

Italian Alberto Meda was trained in mechanical engineering from the school of Politecnico di Milano in Milan (duh), and entered the world of chair design when the design company Vitra commissioned him to design a chair in 1994.  Since then, Meda has designed tables, lamps, bookshelves, and of course, more chairs.

If you like this chair, but want something just a tiny bit different, you're in luck!  Meda has designed several chairs similar to the Rollingframe Arm Chair such as the Meda Conference Chair, Meda Pal, Physix, Meda Slim, Meda Pro, and probably more if you look hard enough.  And if you thought there couldn't be possibly any more chairs with Meda in the title, check out the Meda Gate airport chairs!  

There is an elegance that emanates from the Rollingframe Arm Chair, and part of that might be because it's not completely connected to itself.  If you look under the PVC polyester mesh seat, you'll notice that there's a space between the seat and the aluminum 5-star swivel base.  Beauty and grace in a chair, my friends, beauty and grace.

-Erica

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K2 Lounge Chair

Designer: BUSK + HERTZOG

Location: Faculty Lounge

Yes, you'll have to find yourself in the faculty lounge to sit in this chair, but should you get the chance--take it! The K2 lounge chair is the only asymmetric chair in Hunt, unless you're counting that dilapidated bean bag chair in one of the study rooms.

The designers, Flemming Busk and Stephan Hertzog, are actually chair designers by trade. This is in contrast to the mid-century chairs in the library, many of which were designed by people who were first architects. Most of their designs are just as cool as the K2, so head on over to their website and take a look.

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Cab Chair

Designer: Mario Bellini

Location: Faculty Lounge (the coveted)

This bad boy is constructed of a steel frame, additional foam covering the seat, and a layer of leather stretched over the entire chair and zipped up for good measure.  The simplicity of this chair makes it a classic while the exposed stitching adds a relaxed modern touch.

Italian designer Mario Bellini concocted the idea of the Cab Chair and it was produced in 1979 by Cassini.  The chair has received the ASID and ROSCOE awards in '79 and has become a part of the MOMA design and architecture collection.

But Bellini didn't just stop with the simple cab chair.  He also designed the bar stool and armchair versions of the Cab Chair.  If you are curious to check out how the versatile Cab Chair is and want to see it in a plethora of different settings, check out the Houzz website. 

Does Mario Bellini's name sound familiar?  That's because he also designed Le Bambole, previously highlighted on CoHL.  I wouldn't mind having both of these chairs in my house one day- not one bit.

-Erica

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

Hi there folks,

We've got a big announcement for you today.

We here at COHL thoroughly enjoy the process of putting together this Tumblr together for you. It's a delight. A treasure. A morsel of sunshine. However, occasionally there are times when we must acknowledge the fact that we are mere amateur admirers of things to sit on and give deference to those with true skill. Today is one of those times.

Because we've just been informed that Gwen (you remember Gwen, right? The Director of Library Environments, i.e. one of the people who designed the interior of the entire freaking Hunt Library?) has published a user's guide to the chairs in the Hunt Library, titled ChairHunt, that includes photos, facts about the designers, the history of the chairs, etc. So, basically the same format as this site, except, you know...better. Because she's a pro.

So, if you want a real-life, better version what you get here, we'd encourage you to buy the book. I have to say, it's pretty awesome.

Congratulations, Gwen!

-Jake

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

Remy Lounge Chair

Designer: Jeffrey Bernett

Location: 3rd Floor (located in study rooms)

The Remy Lounge Chair is a USA-made "self return" swivel lounge chair that seems to float in the air as the upholstered seat elegantly rests on a stainless steel base.  Its designer, Jeffrey Bernett, collaborated with Bernhardt design to create this chair.  

Bernett began his studies at the business schools at Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota before studying design at the Parnham College in England.  He then moved to New York where he became a consultant for design.  In 2002 Bernett founded the Consultants for Design Strategy (CDS) which works with manufacturers such as Design Within Reach, B&B Italia, and Northwest Airlines.  

Below are links to some examples of the works produced by CDS: 

Flight Recliner, manufactured by Design Within Reach

Metropolitan Collection, manufactured by B&B Italia

Moment Side Chair, manufactured by Knoll

Tulip Sixtysix, manufactured by Bernhardt

-Erica

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"A LIVING BODY, PLEASANT TO TOUCH AND EMBRACE, SOFT AND SAFE”. - Mario Bellini

Le Bambole

Designer: Mario Bellini

Location: 4th Floor

This scrumptious number just begs for you to lounge around for bit, then curl up and read a book.  The puffiness of the chair creates a down comforter effect, but the strength of the structure makes it feel very stable and secure. The Bambino chair is place in two separate groups on either side of the 4th floor viewing area, so you can choose color and view while you and your friends gather for book club, or a chat.

Bellini designed the Bambole Armchair in 2007 for the B&B Italia collection.  The steel frame is surrounded by shaped polyurethane foam and the fabric can be either leather or fabric (all the Bambino chairs in the CoHL are leather).  He also designed a Bambole Sofa for the collection, which looks just as delicious to lounge in.   Check out his other designs here, and his architecture here.

-Erica

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

Cassina Aspen Bench

Designer: Jean-Marie Massaud

Location: 4th Floor

The Hunt Library's only Aspen bench sits directly across from the 4th floor "fishbowl." Despite the fact that it is placed somewhat innocuously against a short wall, the stark contrast of the bench's bright red leather against the forest-green backdrop, along with the its graceful asymmetry, creates a visual that commands attention. Basically, it's an amazing photo-op.

The Aspen Bench was designed by French designer and architect Jean-Marie Massaud, who graduated from the French National School for Advanced Studies in Design in 1990. Since then, he has gone on to design several award-winning furniture-pieces and architectural layouts (seriously, you have to check out this concept art for a spa/resort and store interior. They are incredibly awesome.), as well as the Estadio Omnilife in Gudalajara, Mexico.

- Jake

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Happy Mother's Day from Chairs of Hunt Library

Here's a baby in a womb chair.

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SM1 Lounge Chair and Sofa

Designers: Peter Shelton and Lee Mindel

Location: Second Floor

Walking through the main entrance of Hunt will lead you right to this common, modern gem. The SM1 series of chairs and sofas is one of the most recently designed seating options in Hunt, coming only from the year 2006--making it 78 years older than the Barcelona Chair.

The two designers, Peter Shelton and Lee Mindel, founded their own architectural firm: Shelton, Mindel & Associates. Since its inception in 1978, they have won twenty eight American Institute of Architect (AIA) awards for interior design, and that's only the beginning of their renown. Both Shelton and Mindel have been inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, which I'm sure most people didn't know even existed until this sentence.

Some of their major projects have been the Polo Ralph Lauren Headquarters, Fila USA Headquarters, Sting and Trudie Styler's London Town Home, an awesome cruise ship named The Mercury, Private Jets, and a lot of other amazing stuff.

Peter Shelton passed away on August 26, 2012 in Manhattan. The NYT has a great piece on his life. Lee Mindel continues to head the firm and even has a pretty awesome twitter account.

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

The Oxford Chair

Designer: Arne Jacobson

Location: 4th floor - Video Seminar Room

Arne Jacobsen designed the egg chair, which is probably the first chair you'll notice upon entering on the second floor of the library. But we're here to talk about a later design of his: the Oxford Chair.

Jacobsen was not only contracted to build the chair, however, he was contracted to build a majority of the buildings for the school. But before we get there, let's take a step back and look at how the university came about, as it has a rich modern history.

In the mid-1850s, a college education in Oxford was prohibitively expensive (apparently crushing student loan debt didn't exist yet?). The Royal Commission came up with a plan that basically allowed students to congregate and learn under a University, without paying the cost of attending college. The group was called the Delegacy for Unattached Students. Over the years, this group evolved and changed into the St. Catherine's Society.  They had been meeting for many years in various locations, however, they had no central campus. Finally, after decades of relocation and decentralization, the time had come for the group to get a campus of their own. After a few years of fundraising by University head Alan Bullock (who wrote the first comprehensive biography of Hitler) they finally had the funds to build a campus of their own. 

Arne Jacobsen was chosen as the architect after a handful of Oxford dons visited the Munkegaard School and the SAS Royal Hotel. There was some uproar over the commission of Jacobsen to design the buildings and interiors for St. Catherine's College. The debate was over the idea that a modernist foreign designer on the payroll for such an important task. However, a university with a modern mission needed an equally modern designer. Upon revealing Jacobsen's designs for the college, including the Oxford chair, everyone's fears were quelled.

Jacobsen received an honorary doctorate from Oxford upon completing the project. Today, the Oxford chair stands as one of Jacobsen's outstanding design achievements.

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

The Secret Weapon Of "Mad Men"? Herman Miller

How the Zeeland, Michigan, furniture company helps Mad Men set decorator Claudette Didul-Mann get the details right.

The chairs of Mad Men and Hunt Library have more in common than you think...

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

"Kontour" Davis Bench

Designer: Wolfgang C.R. Mezger

Location: Ground floor

This elegant bench was designed by the well-respected contemporary designer Wolfgang C.R. Mezger. Interestingly, Mezger is seen as something of the champion of the modern office, producing simple, sleek desks, bookshelves, and coffee tables.

The muted tones of this bench make it somewhat unique among the more colorful furnishings in the library. This was a deliberate choice by library interior designers Gwen Emery and Patrick Deaton (who we've mentioned before). They wanted to maintain the sleek, modern aesthetic of the rest of the library while not distracting from the fascinating display of the bookBot just behind it--and given the incredibly awesome nature of the bookBot, I can't blame them.

Overall, I think they nailed it.

--Jake

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

Bertoia Diamond Chair

Designer: Harry Bertoia

Location: private group study rooms throughout library

Italian born Harry Bertoia met Florence Schust at the Cranbook Academy of Art.  This friendship would pay off, as Florence would later marry Hanz Knoll and invite Bertoia to create whatever he'd like for the Knoll company.  The result was the Bertoia Seating Collection (1952) which included the Bertoia Diamond Chair. 

The Diamond Chair (which looks a little marine-like to me) is constructed out of thin steel rods which criss-cross and are formed to create the curvature of the chair.  Bertoia said of his chair design: "If you look at the chairs, they are mainly made of air, like sculpture."  It isn't too surprising for him to make this comparison, because not only was he famous for his furniture designs, Bertoia was a prolific sculptor and jewelry artist.

Much like his furniture designs, his sculptures and jewelry are made out of industrial materials like metals and woods.  But he uses these typically rugged substances to create graceful and elegant pieces of art.

-Erica

[chairsofhuntlibrary]

Dip and Double Dip Benches

Designer: Chris Howker

Location: 1st Floor

Quantity: 1 each

The dip and double dip benches are the first pieces of beautiful furniture greeting you as you enter the library from the 1st floor. Their metallic texture and stainless steel construction provide a great visual parallel to the magnificent book bot before you. Speaking of, these benches are one of the few pieces of furniture not made out of leather or pleather material in the library (another rare one being the Womb Chair). Another thing to notice is the gray the ground floor furniture selections, matching visual texture of the floor (remember the Cycle Bench from way back? )

These benches come to us from the mind of Chris Howker, from the B&B Italia furniture design firm. Howker is a UK designer who has worked on industrial design, hotel interiors, salon interiors, coffee bars, and a bunch of other things. He’s actually one of the few designers we’ve mentioned on the blog that has a professional background in furniture design—most designers have started in architecture.

//B&B Italia - Chris Howker

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A chair...should be beautiful from all sides and all angles --Hans Wegner

The Shell Chair

Designer: Hans Wegner

Quantity: 15

Location: 4th floor (by southwest windows)

Hans Wegner (who, as you might remember, designed the Wing Chair), was nothing if not innovative, and the Shell Chair demonstrates that in spades. Futuristic, graceful, and remarkably stable considering it only has 3 legs, it falls well within the scope of design proficiency one could expect from Wegner.  

But even by Wegner's own superlative standards, this chair was unique. For one, it was one of very few times Wegner deviated from a solid wood design to dabble in molded plywood. However, perhaps most interesting is that in spite of the fact that it eventually became a classic icon of the "golden age of furniture design," the Shell Chair experienced very little success following its release in 1963. Due to low demand, only 15 chairs were produced in the initial order--two of which were given away when no buyers could be found. No more copies of the chair were produced until 1997, when two of the originals sold at a London auction for 20,000 pounds each. Since that time, the chair has been in constant production from Carl Hansen and Son.

This thing's a classic, folks. You need to try it--if only for that brief moment when, from a certain angle, you look a little like you're riding a manta ray. 

--Jake

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There's an awesome infographic today over at dailyinfographic.com. How many chairs and designers from Hunt do you notice?

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Unlike Keats, who said that knowing about the rainbow shatters its beauty, I feel that the knowledge about an object can only enrich your feelings for the object itself. --Charles Eames

Eames Lounge Chair

Designers: Charles and Ray Eames

Location: Professor's Lounge (5th Floor)

Quantity: 4

Now, this isn't the first Eames design you've seen on COHL, and it certainly won't be the last. However, what makes the Lounge Chair distinctive from other Eames chairs was the purpose in its design. Whereas in other endeavors the Eames' tried to balance their designs with affordability, the Lounge Chair was all luxury.

And man, is it luxurious. The molded plywood backing supports the rich, leather upholstery while special joints between the sections allow the chair to flex and conform to the user's body. In fact, one of the central design concepts was to recreate "the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman's mitt." Soon after its release, the Lounge Chair became a staple in modern design. Both the Museum of Modern Art and Henry Ford Museum have permanent exhibits featuring the Lounge Chair.

So, we get it. It's a cool chair. But I'd like to jump back to the quote at the top, if I may. Like Charles Eames' sentiment, we here at COHL feel that learning about an object enriches our appreciation of the object as well those who made the object possible.

And in this case, we get to take that appreciation a bit further. Because the handsome pair of individuals in the lower photo just so happens to be Gwen Emery, the Director of Library Environments, and Patrick Deaton, the Associate Director for Learning Spaces and Capital Managements. What that translates to is "the people who designed the interior of the entire freaking Hunt Library."

That's right. You're looking at the minds behind every chair, couch, table, and workspace in the library. They were gracious enough to give us an extensive tour of the library from a very unique perspective, which we will be including in a future post. But in the mean time, come to the library, take a seat, and bask in the genius of those who made it all possible. 

--Jake