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Monobloc (chair)

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Monobloc
A monobloc chair
MaterialsPolypropylene

The Monobloc chair is a lightweight stackable polypropylene chair, usually white in colour, often described as the world's most common plastic chair.[1] The name comes from mono- ("one") and bloc ("block"), meaning an object forged in a single piece.

History

Variants of the one-piece plastic chair designed by Canadian D.C. Simpson in 1946 went into production with Allibert Group and Grosfillex Group in the 1970s.[2] Other sources name the French engineer Henry Massonnet from Nurieux-Volognat with his "Fauteuil 300" from 1972 as the inventor of the monobloc.[3] They were inspired by the Chair Universal 4867 design by Joe Colombo in 1965, but no patents were filed for a monobloc chair design.[4][5] Since then, millions have been manufactured around the world.

Production and usage

The Monobloc chair is so named because it is injection moulded from thermoplastic as one piece rather than being assembled from multiple pieces. Many variations and styles exist but all are designed to allow the chair to be made quickly and cheaply through injection molding. A common material used is thermoplastic polypropylene, with the granules being heated approximately 220 °C (428 °F), and the resulting melt injected into a mold.[6] The gate of the mould is usually located in the seat,[7] ensuring smooth flow to all parts of the tool.[citation needed][vague]

Close to a billion Monoblocs have been sold in Europe alone, with one Italian manufacturer producing over ten million a year in 2004. [8] The chairs cost approximately $3.50 to produce in 2011, making them both affordable and ubiquitous - in the billions -[9] worldwide. Numerous variants exist.[10] Their light weight and stackable design eases both their deployment and storage, even for large gatherings. [11] (One modern design weighs 2.7 kg, half that of the standard make, and can be stacked 24 high.)[12] They are also prevalent in both corporate and individual outdoor usage due to features such as the slits on seat and backrest which rain water and wind pass through, their wide base which resists their occupants tipping over, and their sheer utility and replaceability. [13]

Social reception

The monobloc chair has been a controversial piece of furniture. Many people, including social theorist Ethan Zuckerman, have described the chair as having achieved ubiquity at a global scale.[10] This quality has been seen as both a positive and a negative, with some considering the homogenous nature of the chair "disturbing" and "the real evil of globalization",[4][14] while others have called it one of "the world's most perfectly designed object[s]".[4]

Monobloc plastic chairs were banned from public spaces in the city of Basel, Switzerland from 2008[15] to 2017[16][17] to preserve the beauty of cityscape.

Exhibitions

  • Massed
    Massed
  • Stacked
    Stacked
  • As former flotsam
    As former flotsam

References

  1. ^ Alter, Bonnie (November 18, 2010). "Is This the World's Most Famous Chair?". TreeHugger. Archived from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Rashid, Karim (September 13, 2015). "A brief history of the humble plastic chair". CNN. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Monobloc – Ein Stuhl für die Welt" [Monobloc - A chair for the world]. Vitra Design Museum (in German). 2017. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Suzdaltsev, Jules (January 28, 2015). "White Plastic Chairs Are Taking Over the World". VICE. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  5. ^ van den Elshout, Guido J. (December 27, 2011). "Monobloc Chair: Joe Colombo and Vico Magistretti". Chair Blog. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  6. ^ Gosnell, Mariana (July 2004). "Everybody Take A Seat". Smithsonian.
  7. ^ Chair, Misunderstood (Audio). Every Little Thing. July 3, 2017. Event occurs at 20 minute 20 seconds.
  8. ^ "the monobloc plastic chair". designboom. June 8, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
  9. ^ https://designwanted.com/monobloc-chair/
  10. ^ a b "Those White Plastic Chairs – The Monobloc and the Context-Free Object | … My heart's in Accra". Ethan Zuckerman. April 7, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2020. The Monobloc is one of the few objects I can think of that is free of any specific context. Seeing a white plastic chair in a photograph offers you no clues about where or when you are.
  11. ^ HAMADA, Midori (April 4, 2012). "A Cadeira Monobloco (The Monobloc Chair)". OBVIOUS Magazine (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  12. ^ Lindsay, Calum (August 4, 2020). "€77 Bell Chair by Konstantin Grcic for Magis is made in less than a minute". Dezeen. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Niermann, Ingo (August 26, 2004). "Ingo Niermann: Plastic Chair". functionalfate.org. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  14. ^ Niermann, Ingo (August 26, 2004). "Ingo Niermann: Plastic Chair". functionalfate. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Abschied von Plastikstühlen". Basler Zeitung (in German). ISSN 1420-3006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "Basel rüstet auf: Foodtrucks ab sofort erlaubt und Plastikstühle wieder willkommen". TagesWoche (in Swiss High German). February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  17. ^ "Grossräte wollen die Lex Plastikstuhl zurück". TagesWoche (in Swiss High German). March 20, 2017. Archived from the original on November 6, 2018. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Der Allgegenwärtige (The Omnipresent) in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. 30 April 2017, Page 53
  19. ^ "MARTI GUIXE - GUIXE.COM | Honour Cheap Furniture A.P. Chairs". www.guixe.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  20. ^ "Honour Cheap Furniture di Martí Guixé". La Galleria Nazionale. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
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