Emeco’s New “1951” Chair Designed by BMW has Good Karma
A fortuitous discovery on eBay lead to ‘1951’, Emeco's newest aluminum chair. Designed by Adrian van Hooydonk and BMW DesignworksUSA, the new chair will début at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile this April in Milan, Italy. The new chair joins award-winning work by Philippe Starck and Frank Gehry.
(PRWEB) February 25, 2005 -- A fortuitous discovery on eBay lead to ‘1951’,
Emeco's newest aluminum chair. Designed by Adrian van Hooydonk and BMW
DesignworksUSA, the new chair will début at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile
this April in Milan, Italy. The new chair joins award-winning work by Philippe
Starck and Frank Gehry.
"We found a long lost chair on eBay dated 1951,"
recalled Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco's Chairman and CEO. "The chair was built by
Emeco for US government hospitals. We appreciated the straightforwardness of the
50's original, but it needed rationalization - and attitude. That's Adrian and
Designworks' expertise."
"Gregg wanted to do a re-edition of the chair
but we quickly agreed that Emeco should create a version of ‘1951’ that retained
Emeco's DNA, yet looked forward," said Adrian van Hooydonk, Director of BMW
Brand Design in Munich.
"Gregg instinctively knows what is good for
Emeco and we agreed that the modernization of the original chair would be 100 %
Classic Emeco - simple, utilitarian and masculine. Lines and surfaces were
discussed at length, as well as the "Stance" of the new ‘1951’, which is a lot
more dynamic than the original. The design phase that followed was one of the
most collaborative and rewarding experiences of my life.
I had dealt
with similar issues designing modern cars for the Mini and BMW brands, and I
have incorporated these ideas. ‘1951’ is the first Emeco product that combines
new materials for the seat and back - technically molded ABS plastic, with
classic aluminum construction. This will allow customers to add color and
simplifies manufacturing - reducing cost.
As in good car-design, these
added functional elements create a clean, simple and dynamic look that will
appeal to costumers on an emotional level while projecting strength."
The
new ‘1951’ chair stacks six high and will retail for US$250, or $120 less than
Emeco's classic 1006 Navy chair. The brushed/ anodized aluminum frame supports a
generous ABS plastic seat and back available in five standard colors. Matching
bar and counter stools are available. The chairs and stools carry Emeco's famous
lifetime guarantee and are completely American made at Emeco’s historic Hanover
Pennsylvania facility. Emeco’s use of post-consumer recycled aluminum makes its
furniture LEED ™ compliant.
Named a "Master of Design" by Fast Company
magazine in 2004, Adrian van Hooydonk was recently elevated to Director of
Design for BMW Automobiles in Munich, Germany from his post as President of BMW
DesignworksUSA. During his tenure with the company, the 41-year-old
Netherlands-born van Hooydonk has been responsible for the design of the
exterior of the Mini ACV30 concept car shown in Monte Carlo in 1997 and at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1999; the exterior of the BMW Z9 Gran Turismo shown in
Frankfurt in 1999; and the exterior design of numerous upcoming BMW
models.
“Design should make the world less complicated," says Mr. van
Hooydonk. "The world is crazy enough without designers making it worse. The
trick is to simplify but maintain the emotion."
Designworks/USA is a
strategic design consultancy and member of the BMW Group, based in Newbury Park,
California. Designworks was founded in 1972 by internationally acclaimed
designer Charles Pelly and acquired by the German automaker BMW in 1995. The
company specializes in the areas of automotive, transport and industrial design,
and advanced communications.
Emeco was founded in 1944 to make
all-aluminum chairs for the US Navy. Mr. Buchbinder purchased the company in
1998 and began a friendship and association with the renowned French architect,
Philippe Starck, creating a series of products that united Emeco's historic
manufacturing capabilities with Mr. Starck's classic designs for a new century.
In 2000, Mr. Starck's Hudson chair for Emeco won the GOOD DESIGN Award and was
inducted into the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New
York. In 2004, Emeco collaborated with the American architect Frank Gehry on
Superlight, a chair that utilizes aluminum's ability to be both strong and
flexible. Mr. Gehry's chair won another GOOD DESIGN award in 2004 and was
included in collections at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC and the
Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. The new 1951 chair can be seen at the
Furniture Fair in Milan at Emeco’s stand CO1 in Pavilion 20, Hall 1.
Emeco has made over 1,000,000 Navy chairs since 1944, and now sells its
all-aluminum furniture in 29 countries. Please visit www.emeco.net.
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Source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb212071.htm