RIVAL / CHAIR / ARTEK /
2014
2014
Even though our collaboration with Finnish furniture manufacturer Artek started nearly two years before the company´s marriage with Vitra (August 2013), the original briefing from Artek could´t have better anticipated its future destination: the chair RIVAL was designed for home working. In the use of materials RIVAL reflects its roots in the historic company founded by Alvar Aalto 80 years ago. However, the swivel mechanism, invisibly integrated into the seat of the chair, owes strongly to the technical ingenuity of Artek´s new partnership with Vitra.
"Being able to swivel offers a psychological clue as to the purpose of the chair. Just as pulling an adjustable desk light into position, and pressing the switch is a symbolic prelude to concentration and work, so is the sense of being able to adjust your seating position at a desk. It is a gesture that can almost be seen as giving the user permission to leave their domestic setting behind, and to start work." (Deyan Sudjic, design critic and director of the London Design Museum).
There are two different versions of Rival, a high back and a low back. The chairs come in different wood finishes and with upholstered seats in either leather or 3-d knit fabric.
Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)
Producer: Artek
"Being able to swivel offers a psychological clue as to the purpose of the chair. Just as pulling an adjustable desk light into position, and pressing the switch is a symbolic prelude to concentration and work, so is the sense of being able to adjust your seating position at a desk. It is a gesture that can almost be seen as giving the user permission to leave their domestic setting behind, and to start work." (Deyan Sudjic, design critic and director of the London Design Museum).
There are two different versions of Rival, a high back and a low back. The chairs come in different wood finishes and with upholstered seats in either leather or 3-d knit fabric.
Project assistant: Sami Ayadi (KGID)
Producer: Artek