Vitra Eames Fiberglass Chairs
Eames Fiberglass Chairs
The preliminary draft for the MOMA New York
Two years before the Eames Fiberglass Chair was ready for series production, Charles and Ray Eames submitted a chair to the "International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design" of the New York Museum of Modern Art. The concept included a seat shell shaped to fit the body and the possibility of using different underlays.
With this entry the designer couple won second place. For the serial production of such a chair, the shell, still made of metal, proved to be too expensive and problematic.
Fiberglass as a new material for furniture construction
Charles and Ray Eames set out to find a suitable material to make the chair ready for serial production. The two designers chose polyester resin with a fibreglass reinforcement. Until now, this material was mainly used in the military sector. The material convinced Charles and Ray Eames with its advantageous properties such as strength, mouldability and the possibility of using the material in industrial production. This material, completely new for furniture construction, was used by the designers for the serial production of the seat shell, and with the start of serial production the Fiberglass Chair was born. The extraordinary combination of seat and shell gained much attention and offered good comfort.
The undercarriage concept
Charles and Ray Eames developed various undercarriages to connect them to the seat controls as desired and to create different chair models. Each base is an expressive design in itself, the wooden base with metal struts as well as the Eiffel Tower base made of steel wire. The distinctiveness of this concept is still something special today.
Exclusive colours
In order to underline the organic form of the seat shells in terms of colour, Charles and Ray Eames created a colour palette in numerous experiments, the shades of which correspond with each other and accentuate the organic form. The result was a range of colours that today once again adorn the iconic fibreglass chairs, such as Elephant Hide Grey, Sea Foam Green or Navy Blue.
Design icons - Historical chairs reissued
After the market launch in 1950, the multifunctional chairs enjoyed great popularity. The range of combinable bases has been constantly expanded over the decades. The Fiberglass Chair developed into one of the most famous classics. Here in the shop you can order the Fiberglass Chairs in 9 original colours of the colour range of that time. The Vitra chairs convince thanks to the material with a lively look. The fibreglass conveys the fascination of a natural-looking material, not least because of the visible fibres.
Everywhere in use
With the Fiberglass Chairs and the Eames Plastic Chairs Vitra offers an extensive chair family by Charles and Ray Eames. The many possible combinations leave plenty of room for a wide range of uses, whether you are looking for chairs for dining rooms, work environments or conference rooms, or want to furnish public areas, waiting areas and lounges.
The return of the Vitra fibreglass chairs
Vitra has been producing the Fiberglass Chairs since 1957 and can look back on a success story stretching back to the 1970s. After plastic chairs became more and more popular, the manufacturer stopped the production of the fiberglass chairs. In cooperation with the Eames Office, the Eames Plastic Chairs made of polypropylene were created in 1999. The never extinguished interest in the original material moved Vitra to pursue modern methods of fibreglass production. After years of development, Vitra reintroduced the coveted Fiberglass Chairs with the latest manufacturing techniques.