Moulded Seat
Meet the makersMono -chrome one piece shell
Materials
There is something about the design of a molded plastic chair that makes it easy to miss, unobtrusive, humble. Perhaps it’s the unassuming simplicity of its form. Or perhaps it’s the functional, stackable architecture that reminds you it’s built to be one of many – a facsimile of itself and all the others like it. For some reason, as these familiar objects sit in the school assembly halls, dentist’s waiting rooms, and offices we inhabit every day, they find themselves taken for granted.
The reality is that, in 1948, something happened that would change the course of history. With the exhibition of their first molded plastic chair designs at the Museum of Modern Art, Charles and Ray Eames had created, in their words, furniture that gave, “the most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least.”
The contoured lines of their designs were as comfortable to sit on as they were easy on the eye. And after years of experiments with various other materials including wood and metal, the Eames had found a material, in polypropylene, that was structurally rigid while flexible enough to move with the body of the sitter.
At LUNE, we are proud to be direct descendants of this movement. LUNE Noir and LUNE Blanc are both made using the same process as these iconic pieces of twentieth century design. Moreover we have, where possible, moved the process forward.
While plastic presents an affordable, practical and aesthetically pleasing design solution, and has created a world in which furniture is democratic, open and accessible, it has also contributed to the contamination of the environment around us.
Despite this, it’s testament to the visionary ideas of Charles and Ray Eames in the 1940s that – although the model of production may be changing – the material remains the same.