Egg Chair For Your Home Decor

Looking at the Egg Chair, it’s hard to believe that its design is almost 60 years old. Over the course of six decades, the chair has neither aged nor become commonplace. It still looks fresh and futuristic. The design comes from the Danish architect and designer Arne Jacobsen, who is also responsible for many other iconic furniture designs.

Story

The Egg Chair was developed in 1958 together with the Swan Chair to furnish the lobby of the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel in Copenhagen. The entire building, as well as its interior design and furnishings, were designed by Arne Jacobsen for the Scandinavian Airline System (SAS). While working on the hotel project, Jacobsen, who had previously worked as a landscape architect, pursued the theme of “modern garden”. This explains the organic, oval shape of the chair, which was intended to match the concept of the building.

The Egg Chair is still commercially available and is manufactured under the Republic of Fritz Hansen brand. The Danish furniture company began collaborating with Arne Jacobsen in 1934. Since then, Jacobsen has provided the company with many memorable furniture designs including the Ant: the Ant, the Series 7, the Grand Prix, the Swan and of course the legendary Egg.

design

While many would certainly engage in polemics about the hotel’s questionable attractiveness as a structure, the Egg Chair’s design leaves no room for such a discussion. With its oval, futuristic shape, the chair is guaranteed to take a top spot in lists of the most iconic furniture designs of the 20th century. Rumor has it that Jacobsen was inspired by Eero Saarinen’s “Womb Chair”. However, upon closer inspection of the two chairs, the alleged resemblance is disputed. The shape of the Egg Chair, with its famous slender curves, has gained worldwide recognition and has been praised by many design critics.

The oval shell is made from a reinforced fiberglass composite that hugs the occupant and gives the chair its famously cozy, intimate feel. The seat shell is padded with cold foam, which is slightly thicker in the headrest area to increase seating comfort. It is upholstered with either different fabrics or leather. The front part of the upholstery is bonded to the upholstery of the chair to reduce seams, folds and wrinkles. The back piece is pulled tight against the shell, which stretches the fabric (or leather) and makes it look very smooth. For the leather variant, the substantial size of the egg chair requires the use of two cowhide leathers that need to be sewn together on the sides of the chair. Due to the type of stitching used in making the leather Egg Chair, the stitching line is wavy, which is very characteristic of this design. The first models of the Egg Chair did not have a seat pad. This feature was added later to make the chair more comfortable. The egg stands on a four-legged base and rotates according to the whim of its owner. The base is made of polished aluminum mounted on a satin steel base. A serial number is engraved on one of the prongs, proving the authenticity of the chair. When the egg was being made, some chairs were fitted with a reclining mechanism where the steel handle protruded from the side of the chair. It is used to set the pressure required to recline the chair.

In summary, the Egg Chair is a truly iconic piece of furniture that is always fun to have. Its innovative, futuristic design coupled with impeccable craftsmanship have given the chair a very special place in interior design history.