Hello,
I recently found one of these chairs at a yardsale and purchased it for the reasonalble price of $5!!!
As the story goes, these chairs were originally designed during the war so springs and hardware were difficult to incorporate. Early Knoll designers used surplus parachute webbing that had failed government standards.
The webbing is not original on my piece and I'm curious if anyone knows of a resource for the original webbing?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Keep It Modern!
1940's Parachute Webbing
I'm sure leather was an option but I really like the idea of keeping it period. The fact that these were originally designed using discarded parachute straps really speaks to the ingenuity and frugal sensibility in with which these were designed.
"The 600 line was designed around the few available materials,such as parachute Webbing ~" rejected by the military for failing stress tests " for chair seats and backs. Looking back today, Risom says that the limitations helped him figure out how to eliminate traditional furniture elements such as "springs, which you couldn't get, filling, which you couldn?t get, and upholstery and so on... it was simple, basic furniture and hopefully comfortable to sit on." In a 1943 issue or Architecture Forum, the 600 Line chairs were described as "solutions both ingenious and inexpensive. And indeed, they were economical: a simple side chair cost $10 20. But during Risoms tour in the army from 1943 to 1945, he says, the royalties "kept my Wife and child alive."
-www.modernismmagazine.com
Although the chair originally had olive straps I prefer the chair in black. I intend to use this to replace the straps.
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