The Saarinen Tulip Chair
The Tulip Chair's nickname is clearly derived from its resemblance to the flower, yet the creative impetus behind the design was not to copy a form from nature, but was the result of a variety of complex ideas and production considerations.
Saarinen decided to adopt a more lively, colourful and attractive design similar to other American and Scandinavian designers of the post-war period. This differed with many German designers of the pre-war period. The Tulip chair was part of a furniture series that included tables, stools and other chairs. They all had the common feature of standing on a pedestal.
It was important to not only capture the artistic elements of the design that included its tulip shape, soft lines and singular structure. Moreover, Saarinen tried to maintain a practical purpose for its use as a chair.
He states, 'The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world. l wanted to clear up the slum of legs. I wanted to make the chair all one thing again. All the great furniture from the past, from Tutankhamun's chalr to Thomas Chippendale's have always been a structural total.'
The appeal of the Tulip chair was also in the seamless transition between the 2 separate components to make it look like 1 complete structure. There was an aluminium swivel base and a fibreglass seat that was available in either black or white. The seat consisted of a cushion that could be removed with a zip cover and was secured to the fibreglass shell by Velcro.
The Tulip chair is available in some different versions and is still being manufactured to this day by Knoll in New York. It won many different design awards to become a design icon amongst the furniture world. Its most significant award was The Museum of Modern Art design award.
Saarinen decided to adopt a more lively, colourful and attractive design similar to other American and Scandinavian designers of the post-war period. This differed with many German designers of the pre-war period. The Tulip chair was part of a furniture series that included tables, stools and other chairs. They all had the common feature of standing on a pedestal.
It was important to not only capture the artistic elements of the design that included its tulip shape, soft lines and singular structure. Moreover, Saarinen tried to maintain a practical purpose for its use as a chair.
He states, 'The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world. l wanted to clear up the slum of legs. I wanted to make the chair all one thing again. All the great furniture from the past, from Tutankhamun's chalr to Thomas Chippendale's have always been a structural total.'
The appeal of the Tulip chair was also in the seamless transition between the 2 separate components to make it look like 1 complete structure. There was an aluminium swivel base and a fibreglass seat that was available in either black or white. The seat consisted of a cushion that could be removed with a zip cover and was secured to the fibreglass shell by Velcro.
The Tulip chair is available in some different versions and is still being manufactured to this day by Knoll in New York. It won many different design awards to become a design icon amongst the furniture world. Its most significant award was The Museum of Modern Art design award.
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The Saarinen Tulip Chair is an amazing example of mid century modern design, check more stunning furniture and the best mid century modern furniture ever on the Mid Century Home blog.