Rex (chair)

For other uses, see Rex (disambiguation).

Rex Chair

The Rex Chair is a wooden chair included in the collection of New York City's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), designed in 1952 by Slovene architect and designer Niko Kralj (1920–2013). Kralj won the Prešeren Prize for the Rex chair. In 2012, it was given a permanent place in the Designmuseum Denmark, the largest museum of design in Scandinavia. The chair is renowned for its contemporary elegance and its visual lightness. The Rex Chair is the most internationally recognized Slovenian design item and was ranked as the second most significant Slovenian product of the 20th century by the "Finance" newspaper in 1999.^{[citation needed]} The Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana devoted an entire exhibit to the Rex chair in 2004 for its 50th anniversary.

Development

Niko Kralj was manager of Stol development services when the chair was first introduced. It was the first chair in Slovenia made with the technology of molded, perforated plywood designed for mass production.

Basic designs

The back of this chair is slatted to allow for ventilation and reduce weight. Bent plywood armrests support the elbows, and the back panel joint strengthens the chair structure. Basic designs of the Rex Chair include:

• Model 120 (1953). Plywood sidepieces were replaced with perforated three-dimensionally turned plywood. The two extreme structural crosspieces on the front edge of the seat and the top of the back were removed and replaced by glued strips. The armrests were made of bent wood.
• Model 101 (1954). Rex Chair 120 variation that does not have armrests. Removing the armrests had a negative effect on structural stability, so two cross bindings were added between the rear legs for strength.
• Model 5654 (1956). A collapsible variation model of 120 is the best-known chair in the REX family and is still being produced today as a low armchair intended to be used in covered areas. It has several varieties to suit its use, for example, as a club chair, a high-backed chair, or an auditorium chair. .
• Model 140. Has a back that is connected to the front legs, which meet the diagonal rear legs in the middle section. The height of the back panel is the same as in the classic Rex Chair, only here whole plywood is used for the upper half of the back panel.
• Model 5652. A folding dining chair with a higher and shorter seat and legs that stand more vertically than in Model 101 (1954).
• The restaurant chair has a perforated seat and back panels, straight/standing legs, and a slightly inclined back. It is suitable for loading.
• The Rex Program also included coffee tables, chaise lounges, and rocking chairs (Model 5655). Foreign manufacturers produced copies of the Rex Chair in plastic, which could also be used outdoors, but do not have the same aesthetics as the original.

Production

The exclusive holder of the manufacturing and distribution rights to the REX chair is Impakta Les. The REX Collection in production today consists of the Rex Folding Chair, Rex Folding Lounge Chair, Rex Folding Rocking Chair, Rex Folding Daybed and Rex Folding Table. As of 2023, they have produced over 2 million REX chairs.

Construction

• First model (1952)

Made entirely of wood, this chair consisted of a solid beechwood frame for securely securing pieces of bowed plywood with a rectangular shape. The armrests, made of solid wood with the front sections cut in a round shape, are joined statically to the two diagonal legs.

• Second model

The ends of the curved sidepieces were set in the crosspieces at the edges of the seat and the back panels; in this way, the use of visible wood screws is avoided at the front of the chair. The crosspiece on the seat contributes to the chair's greater comfort.

• Third model

This is a prefabricated chair held together with bolts and nuts. The cross pieces designed in a mold create the seat and back panels. This was designed to address the problematic sharp bend between the seat and the back by shortening the individual rods. The seat and back are curved to the shape of the body with the rear legs extended into the armrest. The model required a lot of high-quality wood and produced a lot of waste.

• Fourth model

The seat and back are the same as in the third model, with the armrest and the front and rear legs in one piece. It is made with veneers to reduce the amount of real wood to a minimum. However, the shortened armrests do not provide good support.

• Fifth model

The seat and the back are the same as in the third model. The front and rear legs touch at the top and they spread apart diagonally downward. To support this A-shape, the plywood armrest, which is curved at a right angle (through high-frequency dielectric heating), is affixed to the upper section. The chair structure is strengthened further by the armrest being joined to the back panel.

• Sixth model (1953)

The slats were shallowly set into the side element and not able to withstand sudden weight. They were replaced by perforated, three-dimensionally bent plywood shaped to the body's contours. The panels are inserted between two sidepieces. The edge pieces on the front of the seat panel and the top of the back panel are replaced by glued strips.

In 1954, Model No. 56 was accepted for mass production under the name Rex 120.

External links

• REX Chair, official website
• REX designed by Niko Kralj, interior magazine article, interiorzine.com