2/10/10 Fieldstudy: Royal Copenhagen, Georg Jensen, Illums Bolighus

Arne Jacobsen's Series 7 Chair, Historical v. Contemporary Designs

When Arne Jacobsen designed the Series 7 chair in 1955, the set of the chair was made of lacquered wood and available in natural, black, and white finishes. Designed to be functional (the chair stacks, is lightweight and comfortable) the chair was relatively simple and easily produced. Today, countless reproductions and variations of the Series 7 Chair exist, many good examples of which I saw today at the Illums Bolighus. Although it is still possible to purchase a Series 7 Chair in lacquered wood in one of the three original finishes, those options are now eclipsed by a multitude of materials, colors, and even sizes that the chair comes in today.

As opposed to the 1950's, present day society's consumer, so heavily and thoroughly influence by globalization, is often most interested in displaying their individuality through their possessions. Despite the irony of displaying one's uniqueness through a mass produced product, this urge to be individualized has created a product market that is obsessed by variation. Therefore, when you walk into the area of Illums Bolighus where Series 7 Chairs are sold, you are confronted with a wall of possible chair finishes - green, pink, various woods - so that the processing of buying a chair becomes more like defining yourself through color.

Variety of Colors and Finishes

In regard to material, many of the Series 7 Chairs showcased were not made of lacquered wood but plastic. I can't help but think that this shift, while admittedly more economical, marks a step away from craftsmanship. If the multitude of colors that the chair comes in makes it more personal, than it's plastic-ness balances the scales once more by eliminating any sense that the chair you're sitting on has ever been crafted by hand. Additionally, this switch to plastic displays a disregard for material and natural resources. Instead, today's product market is more often than not most concerned about ease of production and the bottom line. Plastic is cheaper and easier to work with - and it does not require skilled craftsmen. Therefore, plastic is marketed to the masses under the claim that it is more durable, in spite of the fact that plastic is not biodegradable and therefore unsustainable.

Wood v. Plastic

Another thing I found interesting was how the chair now comes in a child size. By using 1:1 scale models, Jacobsen was able to produce chairs that were perfectly contoured for the human body. But that ergonomic design is lost if it is simply reduced to a smaller size without consideration of the different proportions of a child's body. Therefore, the chair becomes less about function and more about filling an untapped niche in the market. In today's society where parenting has become "cool" and children are often just another opportunity for parents to accessorize their life (I'm being a bit extreme here, but bare with me), this child sized Series 7 Chair becomes less design and more of a money making tool. As adorable as the chair is, I can't help but think of it as a much more than a gimmick.

Child Sized Series 7 Chair

And just a final note. I did a google search of the Series 7 Chair just to see what would come up and one of the first results was from hive. A great modern design store whose website, hivemodern.com I often enjoy perusing in my free time, hive sells a wide variety of the Series 7 Chair in 12 different colors and countless different variations such as a rolling chair, one with arms, a child's chair, etc. The website describes the chair as the ingenious design of Arne Jacobsen and being perfect for any setting. Nevertheless, this chair that seems to perfect for everybody and ideal in any circumstance is a whopping $466.00, for ONE chair. I wonder what Arne would think about that.

http://hivemodern.com/pages/products.php?view=sub_product&sid=1590&cid=