Hi all,
Herringbone’s Christmas wishes reminded me of this forum. Did not like the new version of it too much and stayed away for a while. Rediscovering it is a lot of fun!
It has been a good year for me. Everyone is healthy at home and the children are growing.
I have travelled a bit (Switzerland to visit Vitra’s design museum -although it’s technically in Germany, Portugal, Finland, Estonia, Hungary) moved to a new country (Poland). I am more and more buying from dealers and did not find anything in thrift stores for a while. I am growing tired of teak furniture and the generic danish teak look (same goes for rio rosewood which is way too dated on big pieces).
I have also opened up to modern design from other countries than just Denmark. My trip to Helsinki has been a revelation, rediscovering the work of Aalto and learning more about Tapiovaara (a true genius). I have also discovered Polish, Yugoslavian and Portuguese design from that area (so so design but the wood types they used were just crazy).
Here are a few pieces I have acquired this year.
@drpoulet. Loving the new acquisitions.
While I am familiar with Tapiovaara's "Fannett" chairs, the "Kongo" design was a new one for me...so I went Googling and discovered there were a number of versions with the wooden frame as well as a design with tubular steel.
Found this link for a sold,metal version and thought you might be interested.
llector.com/Ilmari-Tapiovaara-Congo-folding-chair_i932949
Also an image of one of the other versions; from this book.
Svenskberg , Aila; Ilmari Tapiovaara Life and Design, Designmuseo, 2014,
Knowledge shared is Knowledge gained
Hi Lexi. Thanks a lot. I saw one of these tubular Kongo chair in tubular steel but wasn’t very impressed. But yes, there are several versions of the Kongo chair, the one I have is Kongo 3.
Little known fact is that Tapiovaara’s Ovalette coffee table was first designed as a table for the Kongo chairs.
@drpoulet Thanks for this new perspective! Polish design is pretty underrated, we have a shop in Berlin which is specialized in Polish design. Not only furniture but also clothes, paper, whatever you can think of. I love it. And I really like the pieces you have there, especially the Ulla stool which is new to me.
By the way: What happened to the rocker you wanted to restore? Did you finish it?
"People buy a chair, and they don't really care who designed it." (Arne Jacobsen)
Indeed Polish design is definitely overlooked. Apart from furniture, they also have a great culture of graphic design and polish mid century movie posters are just amazing.
There is a lot of nice things in Czech productions from the period as well. Unfortunately, the quality of Central European furniture is generally nowhere close to Danish ones. Not to mention the cheap woods they usually used.
Danish design really had a momentum with plenty of talented designers, plenty of quality manufacturers and what seems like an unlimited access to premium ressources. This is hard to find elsewhere.
Funny that you mention the rocker. I was planning to finish it this summer but did not find time. It is still there, half finished. I really need to take care of it 🙂
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