Why Are Architects so Obsessed With Chairs?

Deconstructing architect's chair obsessions through the lens of the ROHLING Armchair Type 1, an aluminium chair designed by Studio Gil Russ architects.

Architects spend most of their time thinking about the macro: buildings, spaces and built environments.

And yet despite this, they always seem to make time for the micro: those small, four legged friends commonly known as chairs.

Perhaps it's the challenge of balancing form, function, and materiality within a smaller everyday object. Or maybe it's a way to explore ideas on a more intimate scale, free from the constraints of large-scale projects.

Whatever the reason, architects from Arne Jacobsen to Zaha Hadid have been responsible for designing some of the most iconic and influential chairs in the history of furniture design.

Gil Russ, architect and founder of the Berlin-based furniture brand ROHLING, is one contemporary architect who is keeping this tradition alive and well.

ROHLING's first product, the Armchair Type 1, is designed and produced exclusively using 100% aluminium L-profiles.

Thanks to its industrial look and feel, the Type 1 certainly feels like a product of Berlin. But, on closer inspection, the chair might also typify the approach that architects bring to furniture design.

But what is it that makes architect-designed chairs such as the Type 1 so distinctive?

Construction Time Again

"Architect's chairs are often characterised by three distinctive features,” says Gil. “A focus on construction, an unhealthy obsession with joints, and a deep appreciation for materiality."

Gil’s words are imbued with the experience of a gruelling four year long development process; a process complete with countless dead-ends, non starters, proto-prototypes and endless hours of research.

After a series of setbacks during the initial stages of the project, Gil and chief designer Brian Chen set about creating a structurally rigid, mass-producible chair using nothing but L-profiles made from aluminium: an unusual starting point, by Gil’s own admission.

Similar in approach to classics such as Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair, whose concept was adapted from the concept of using tubular metal to create bicycle frames, the universally utilised L-profile became the conceptual starting point of the Type 1 armchair.

"Rather than relying on hidden reinforcements or strategically placed welds, the commitment to the L-profile as the exclusive material shaped the chair's development," Gil explains.

According to Gil, this dogmatic focus on one conceptual grounding point is precisely that which gives some architect’s chairs their signature defining characteristics.

"During the design process of the Type 1, we noticed that the construction of architect-designed chairs have distinctly separate construction and seating surfaces."

From Prouvé's standard chair (with its distinctive stability enforcing rear legs) to van der Rohe's Barcelona lounger (with its cushioned seat mounted to the ‘x’ shaped frame), this is a pattern which can be seen with countless architect's chairs.

Often, this separation of church and state becomes the defining characteristic of architect designed chairs.

“The Type 1’s deceptively complex construction effectively dictated the positioning of the seat,” continues Gil. “The seat had to fit into the construction, and not the other way around. This gives the chair its interesting aesthetic”

Honest Joints

Consisting of 23 pieces of custom-cut 2.5mm thick aluminium L-profile and 30 screws, the final design of the Type 1 Armchair is a masterclass in simplicity and reduction.

Gil concedes that it would have been easier to add hidden welds to the chair to give it its required structural rigidity. That, however, would have been “cheating".

Instead, the Type 1’s construction is totally naked: its structural transparency the result of a meticulous study into the statics of chair construction using nothing but basic ‘off-the-shelf’ parts.

Ironically, this combo of screws, nuts and bolts actually allows for a degree of structural give and take - a flexibility, which translates into a surprisingly comfortable seating experience.

“It’s unusual for a chair to be held together by screws alone,” comments Gil. “But as a result, the chair has a flexibility and a suppleness that will come as a surprise to many.”

Similar to architect-penned furniture products such as Herzog’ & de Meuron’s X-Hocker, the focus on connections and joints becomes part of the overall aesthetic of the finished product.

This simple and honest approach in connecting the pieces of the chair means that all individual parts can be recycled at the end of the product's life cycle: an additional level of attention to detail that often defines architect's chairs.

A Fetish for Material

The Type 1’s 100% untreated aluminium composition is central to the chair’s narrative.

Not only does aluminium give the chair a practical advantage in terms of its light weight; the absence of coating allows the chair to develop a unique patina over time.

Architect-designed chairs from the likes of Max Dudler unveil a lot about how architects construct chairs using a singular material. Often, the level of craftsmanship involved with material defines the limits and formal possibilities of chair development.

Similarly, the Type 1’s all aluminium constitution is totally informed by the limits and formal possibilities of aluminium.

“Aluminium is rarely used as a construction material,” continues Gil. “Aluminium pieces are often used as supporting elements to aid stability within the overall structure, but to have aluminium forming the construction itself is an unusual approach.”

The conceptual starting point of aluminium is in itself interesting. Aluminium, an inherently reusable and recyclable material, can be smelted down and reformed into new forms (this also served as inspiration for the photoshoot, which was done in an aluminium smelting plant in Slovenia).

Given Gil’s plans to release additional products using the same aluminium L profiles and screws, the Type 1 will also theoretically be able to be reformed into another material - much like aluminium itself.

The details aren’t just the details

One of Gil’s key influences for having the Type 1 made as a flat-packed product was the conceptual approach of Italian designer Enzo Mari. In particular, Mari’s book ‘Autoprogettazione’, a guide to constructing numerous furniture pieces using the same pieces of wood in differing arrangements, is key to understanding Gil’s approach.

“I wanted the assembly of the chair to be an important part of the experience of owning the Type 1,” continues Gil.

Working with simple L-shaped aluminium profiles also paved the way for a more decentralised production process. As the production of the parts doesn’t require costly tooling or moulds, the digital files can be sent to an aluminium fabricator to be cut to size and shipped for assembly.

"Architects are often drawn to the chair as a kind of miniature architectural project," Russ explained. "For me, at least, it's an opportunity to explore ideas and materials on a smaller scale, without the constraints of having to design a fully fledged building."

Although, in the words of Bruno Munari, the world has more than enough chairs, sometimes a new one comes along and successfully adds something to the narrative. With its unique design, look, feel, and approach, the Type 1 is certainly one of those chairs.

Rohling is available to purchase at Highsnobiety Unter Den Linden.

https://www.rohling.co/

https://studiogilruss.com/

Identity, Branding and art direction: Neven Cvijanović, Ten Letters

Photography: Klemen Ilovar