Who buys from Ikea
I think Ikea mostly appeals to the young college crowd who are looking for clean lines and simply designed furniture.
Also for kids who've left their parent's home and are striking out on their own...with limit knowledge of quality furniture and limited funds.
Also, Ikea certainly appeals to the suburbean idea of great furniture...nice and look and cheap.
For the knowledgable among us, we realize that outside of their installed kitchen cabinet line (some of them really are quite good), we realize that most of the stuff are designed to look like established products, and that their quality of materials is REALLY QUITE AWFUL. All of those foil-finished veneers are really crap-a-roo.
Hidden within might be some other odd pieces of decent quality....but basically I wasn't impressed.
And finally, have you ever tried to essemble any of their furniture? Good luck.
I'm not opposed
I'm not opposed to changing colors here and there. Hell, I wish Vitra would wise up and start offering the Eames plastic chairs in even half the color range of the old fiberglass.
What bugs me is the "oh look I'm clever and ironic" mentality that passes for 'design' these days. Designers are making social commentary rather than making social change.
I do wish that they'd bring some new stuff into the mix tho. Maybe Dixon will be able to make Artek relevant again without resorting to clever gimmicks.
I was thinking of the PK...
I was thinking of the PK chair offered in that silver or yellow leather which was just awful but Perhaps Vitra et al hold back with the colour range in order to offer limited editions in the future, much like the way the Savoy vases were offered in different colours from year to year.
I agree 100%, there is too much cleverness, its like these designers are jigging across the stage with a top hat and a cane.
A better approach is not weather a product can be made but designers should ask themselves if the product should be made.
I'm pretty sure the Paimio chair and the cantilevered ship single piece, they should either be knockdown or artek should licence internationally, the roll up screen especially can be made anywhere by anyone, there is no need to ship the thing from Finland.
Can I ask?
Is the Tank a comfortable chair? I love the look of it but I have never sat in one
One the subject of Ikea, have you guys seen the Vilbert chair by Verner Panton? could see that becoming very collectable in the future, They seem to go for around the £200 mark at the minute
http://designmatcher.com/nl/gallery_detail.php?galleryID=1999#
here a link for the...
here a link for the customised bed artek has approved, it would be good to see this sort of arrangement become more coomon.
http://www.anibou.com.au/muston_bed.htm
Tank Chair
Can I ask?
Is the Tank a comfortable chair? I love the look of it but I have never sat in one
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Oh yea....really comfortable. The foam under the Zebra fabric is crisp and firm, without being mooshy.
I love my chair...it's very low to the floor, so an ottoman isn't necessary.
However, if you sit forward, it begins to tip.
So, get your hands on one and sit back...and enjoy.
It's one of my real treasures....and boy does it look great alongside 1950's stuff. (Remember, it's really a streamline 1936 creation.)
Paimio Chair
I found a Paimio Chair at an antique store near Wilberforce, Ontario. Paid a paltry 50 bucks. I was wondering how to figure out when it was manufactured... and if it has anything to do with the WIlberforce Veneer Company that was in operation there, or Curvply which was a company specializing in modern molded plywood furniture that was in operation in nearby Peterborough from 1950 - 1968. I don't think these chairs were ever manufactured in Canada but it seems curious that it should show up where it did, in a town that's main employer was a plywood veneer company.
It's a black seated one... cant find any marks on it.
I'm considering selling it because even though its gorgeous, I'm afraid anyone who sits on it over 200 pounds will break it... like my husband!
it's safe for 200 pounds
I'm considering selling it because even though its gorgeous, I'm afraid anyone who sits on it over 200 pounds will break it... like my husband!
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I'm sure it's strong enough for your husband...as long as it's in good condition.
I'm quite sure that the fact that it's bent birch veneered plywood should make it safe.
I beg to differ
I have several pieces of furniture based on this design principle. My experience is that the failure occurs at the attachment points.
While the structure is amazingly strong, the laminations are compromised when screwed to the frame. A heavy or aggressive occupant causes great stress and the wood begins to separate and fail at the joint.
I have a few pieces of robust furniture that I discreetly direct my stout visitors towards, so that they can better admire the more sensuous pieces of course. 😉
tank chair
It's one of my real treasures....and boy does it look great alongside 1950's stuff. (Remember, it's really a streamline 1936 creation.)
It truly is amazing that chair has been in production since 1936 and with the Zebra fabric it is more popular today than it could have ever been in 1936 at the hight of the strealine modern design,
Remember not everyone embraced streamline modern in the 30 s Aalto by far somewhat forgotten sometimes, but still after over 80 years is designs are as popular as ever cause he was so far ahead of his time and alot of the other designers ( I think a lot of them copied him) as he was first a Architect and a good one,
well maybe it just makes me...
well maybe it just makes me nervous when he sits in it because it makes little faint creaky cracky sounds. Maybe because it has been unused for so long. The paint/laminate (balck) shows some light cracking on the curved parts...
Anyway, I have been watching Ebay to see if any other Paimio chairs come up, but none have shown up in the past month. I'm trying to get a sense of current market resale value. Any ideas?
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