This week I thought I would take a look at the Aeron chair in part as a tribute to Bill Stumpf, its co-designer who died recently.

Together with Don Chadwick he created the Aeron chair for Herman Miller in 1994 and when it was released it was quite unlike any other office chair on the market.

In fact such was the impact of its design that it was included in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art before it was launched into the office furniture market.

Apart from its revolutionary open mesh pellicle seat and back which allows air to circulate more freely around the user’s body it also included anther major surpise.

The chair comes in 3 different sizes - small, medium and large to suit the users differing sizes and weight. Typically, Office Chairs are mostly supplied in one size and the user adjusts them to suit their requirements. If they have problems then they have to consider an alternative office seat.

The Aeron chair has always been a high cost item and to some extent this has worked to its advantage, giving it an air of exclusivity and desirability. When the heady days of the dotcom boom were upon us, it was frequently the must have accessory for Internet start ups of the late 1990’s as they spent the megabucks so freely provided to them.

Not surprisingly, as the Aeron has proved so successful it has spawned loads of look -alike products. Few if any, however, match the quality and function of this modern masterpiece. Click the link for more details on the Aeron chair.

Robin Day must surely be amongst Britain’s most famous post war furniture and chair designers.

He trained at the Royal College of Art just prior to the second world war, having specialised in furniture and interior design.

He began a long connection in 1950 with the British furniture manufacturer Hille, who were keen to progress from the traditional furniture they had produced up until then. Robin Day designed a range of simple chairs, desks tables and storage for them.

As materials and labour were not abundant at this time his designs concentrated on low cost furniture with a minimum number of components. He was always more interested in the function of his furniture rather than making some striking design statement.

The relationship with Hille continued and in 1963 he designed his most famous product, the polypropylene chair for them. This emphasised his commitment to the design of inexpensive furniture that could be readily mass produced.

The polypropylene chair was a huge success combining the qualities of strength, light weight, durability and functionality. The polypropylene chair has gone on to be made by the million, not counting the huge number of imitations that have sprung up since. None however seem to match the design ethics of Day’s original.

Polypropylene school and outdoor chairs followed in the 1970’s.

Mies van der Rohe was a German architect, born in Aachen in 1886. He is best known for his architectural work particularly in glass and steel buildings and is considered one of the masters of modern architecture.

Although his design work in chairs was not prolific it has a timeless quality to it. He first started designing chairs and furniture in the 1920’s generally for the interiors of the buildings he was creating.

He and Lilly Reich collaborated on a new cantilever chair based on a tubular steel framework. Incorporating curved frames the Brno chair launched at the end of the 1920’s based around a flat steel chromed framework.

In the early 1930’s he an d Lilly Reich produced what is undoubtedly his most famous range of seating for the Barcelona International Exhibition.

The Barcelona chair and stool had a thick leather cushion supported on a curved X shaped frame to give a wonderfully proportioned, elegant seat. A simple couch and table made up the range.

Due to the worsening political situation Mies van der Rohe left Germany for the USA in 1938 and spent the rest of his career in promoting modern architecture, principally in glass and steel.

Whilst Mies van der Rohe wasn’t a prolific chair designer, those that he did create have a wonderfully timeless quality to them and remain extremely popular some 27 years after his death.