1000 Chairs

by Charlotte Fiell, Peter Fiell

Sleek, stuffed, buttoned, or bent, in the den or the dining room, the chair is an indicator of its owner's identity. Chairs make up much of the interior landscape of our homes and workplaces, and a comfortable chair is considered a great asset in either location. A rigorous survey of the last 150 years of chairs, 1000 Chairs is a pictorial guide to the axiom "you are where you sit." Writers Charlotte and Peter Fiell argue that, as well as being an icon of identity, the chair is a form through which designers engage in social, political, and even ergonomic rhetoric. A good example is George Nelson's mass-produced modular seating system. Geometrical in design, its austere, mostly rectilinear lines are efficient and economical. The book follows developments and mutations in chair design from the days before art deco through the rise of modernity and into the mid-'90s, when designers like Philippe Starck used such materials as recycled plastic and injection molded polypropylene. In total there are more than the 1000 advertised illustrations, and each is accompanied by a small text describing the significance of the chair and its designer. The book includes more than 100 capsule biographies of such designers as Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Adolph Loos, and Marcel Breuer. The only problem with 1000 Chairs is, ironically, its own ergonomics. At about eight by six inches and nearly 800 pages, it is an unwieldy little tome. That aside, this is a great book--a must for anyone interested in sitting down. --Loren E. Baldwin

Genres: Design, Art, Nonfiction, Interior Design, Art Design, Reference, Architecture

768 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Charlotte Fiell is a leading authority on the history, theory and criticism of design and, to date, has written 60 books on the subject.

Charlotte initially studied at Heatherley School of Fine Art in London and then later at the British Institute in Florence. She subsequently took a BA(Hons) degree in the History of Drawing and Printmaking with Material Science at Camberwell College of Arts (UAL), London. Following on from this, she trained at Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London.

Reviews

[Tomek Gunia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m so confused, mostly because book is really good, but author forget about design from Eastern Europe like it didn’t existed. Some of the chairs were really poor design yet they had been out there anyway because of bauhaus or ethnicity of designer. I’m not only talking about socialist time after war when there was a lot really good design in this part of Europe but also modern times when there was designed inflatable steel stool and won for a Mars expedition and other great projects. There is not only a lot of furniture factory’s but also so many talented people. Maybe you should hire someone with broad recognition of this topic and not only focus on Germany, Italy and France, with some Scandinavian and American designers.

[Maddie Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

50th book of 2020! loved this, it was a great read. definitely for people who like architecture and design. not super informative, but cool to look at and read!

[Jordan B Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool overview of chairs in the last century. It could've contained more history on the designers.

[Tom Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw some cool chairs

[Geoffrey Hagberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it: look, the title is pretty clear.

Why I like it: I'll put it this way: after reading this book, every time I watch a TV show set anytime within the past 150 years, I'm now distracted by identifying the kind of chair, examining the details of its construction and style, and considering where that chair fits in the timeline of chair design paradigms. Not surprisingly, Mad Men is a field day for appreciating furniture design.

Anyway, my point is that this book changed my life.

You might also like: I haven't picked up a copy yet, but I hear that there's a sequel: 1000 Lights. I'm adding it to next year's reading list and will report back.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In another life, I was an architect. In this life, I just hope to someday own a Noguchi table.

(While I marked this as "read", I haven't really read the whole thing. I've more just browsed the pictures :)

[Ralph Zoontjens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great collection of chair designs. It won't teach you how to design chairs but it will give you a lot of food for thought.

[Ryan Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Spanish version. There are a lot of beautiful pictures, and you will learn a lot of Spanish words for different textile/fabrication materials if you can get through it.

[Sara Kenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every chair had something to say, and I listened

[Brototi Mondal · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing and great, its gonna enlighten u 1000 design involved to inculcate such forms.

[Brototi Mondal · Rating 5 out of 5]

indeed nice to learn the form.

[scoffs, calumnies, etc. · Rating 5 out of 5]

any Chair Enjoyer should own this.

[Mandy Crumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief but informative encyclopedia of chairs. Images of each example and what specific place they were created. A good starting resource for people.

[Tal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the best and worst chairs you'll ever see.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

muy diver!!!!

[André]

The ubiquitous chair in all its shapes and forms (TASCHEN's 25th anniversary special edition) More than any other piece of furniture, the chair has been subjected to the wildest dreams of the designers. The particular curve of a back-rest, or the twist of a leg, the angle of a seat or the colour of the entire artefact all reflect the stylistic consciousness of each era. From Gerrit Rietveld and Alvar Aalto via Verner Panton to Eva Zeisel; from Art Nouveau to International Style, from Pop Art to Postmodernism, the phenomenon of the chair is so complex that it requires a reference work as comprehensive as this to do it full justice. They are all here: Thonet's bentwood chairs and Hoffmann's sitting-machines, Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair and Ron Arad's avant garde armchairs. The book, a slightly abbreviated version of our classic title 1000 Chairs, devotes one page to each chair, displayed on its own as pure form, with biographical and historical information about the chair.

[madie · Rating 3 out of 5]

پر از طراحي هاي مختلف از معمارهاي مشهور و كمتر مشهور با يك موضوع مشترك"صندلي".توي يكي از صفحه ها سير تحولي يه صندلي خيلي ساده به يه طوح پر از كرو و نسبتا پيچيده نمايش داده شده بود كه به نظرم جالب توجه اومد.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a little bit obsessed with chairs and this is the reference guide I use when I drag something home from the thift store thinking it might be an important design :)

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fantastic and economic visual survey of seating from the past 150 years. One of the best reference books I own and a must for furniture lovers.

[MaryAddison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a thing for chairs. It was a gift.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't live without this book.

[Juliana Lopes · Rating 4 out of 5]

something to take a look every now and then.

[Siria · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reference book.

[Patty Vela · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the greats are in here! Beautiful book!

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The introduction is interesting, the 1000 chairs itself are really something to glance through instead of thorougly reading it (actually, that sounds quite obvious...)

[Julio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference and brif review of the design and designer

[Simona Ferrero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complete review of world of chairs.. good photos and texts.

[Thùy Cốm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a gem for chair-lovers and product design enthusiasts in general.

[Dalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expected a bit more from the revised edition (i.e. newer products). Still, a fantastic book for designers!

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll take a Hans Wegner Valet, a Dieter Rams Model 620, and an Almora chair thanks.