CHAOS / SIDE CHAIR / CLASSICON /
2001
When in 1999 ClassiCon proposed to me a collaboration with a family-run upholstery workshop north of Milan, I decided, in a slightly reactionary way, to design an uncomfortable upholstered chair. What may at first sound cynical actually had a deeper meaning. I wanted to break with the conventions of correct, formal seating. The chair avoids imposing any particular posture on the sitter. Instead, it invites us to do what we do anyway: to perch, fidget, turn, shift. The chair´s volume is extremely narrow in profile, but its opulent front/rear elevation offers all the comfort and security necessary for sitting, even accommodating two people seated next to each other.

CHAOS People (see image file) shows people we invited in from the street outside my office. We asked them to sit on the Chaos chair, which was set up in front of a white paper backdrop. The photos were taken the moment they sat down, so that we could capture them in their first intuitive posture.

Project assistant: Stefan Diez (KGID)
Producer: ClassiCon