CHAIR TIMES BY VITRA
A History of Seating – From 1800 to Today

A film by: Heinz Bütler
Production: HOOK Film & Kultur Produktion GmbH in cooperation with the Vitra Design Museum, 2018

The film Chair Times leads on a path through a ‘sea of chairs’: 125 objects dating from 1807 to the latest 3D printed designs are arranged in the order of their production years, forming a timeline of modern seating design in the Vitra Schaudepot. Which objects would professionals in the design field want to talk about?

The roster of experts includes designers Hella Jongerius, Antonio Citterio, and Ronan Bouroullec, the architects and collectors Arthur Rüegg and Ruggero Tropeano, architect David Chipperfield, Peter Noever as Director Emeritus of MAK Vienna/Los Angeles, Vitra Design Museum director Mateo Kries, and VDM curators Amelie Klein and Jochen Eisenbrand as well as VDM collection curator Serge Mauduit.

Serving as a guide on this journey into the past of seating design is Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra.

“Chairs are important witnesses of their time. This is true regardless of whether they express the fashion of a momentary trend or represent an epochal idea. They are portraits of their users and reflections of the production methods from which they emerge. Thus we are able to perceive and comprehend an era – its social organization, its materials and technology, its aesthetic tastes – by observing its chairs. I would even claim that chairs are more multifaceted than any other everyday object“. Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra

Vitra has decided to share Chair Times for free during this particular time. (Film in German with English subtitles)

more. www.vitra.com