Take a Seat

Basic info:

Alessandro Mendini - Proust Armchair - Studio Alchimia

1970's in Italy 

Anti - design

was critical of advanced technology & consumerism 

Rejected functionalism, favoured a fun/emotional relationship between user and object

There is transformation in this object because it isn't like all the chairs created at the time. Its full of life and colour. It was more about the design than the actual functionality of the chair. It was something that one would notice easily and probably have a lot to say about it. obviously this was good marketing for a designer - word of mouth. Unfortunately this could have been both good and bad. 

The print itself is very geometrical but not symmetrical. It looks made up of small squares with different colours. The texture looks like something is made of glass which make it impossible for the user to sit on, but this chair is just made of fabric and its just the illusion it gives. 

''Originally created as a rebuke to austere modernism while redefining design’s dualism of good and bad taste, the chair is an icon of 20th century Postmodern design.''

''Inspired by the French writer Marcel Proust’s theory of continual flux, the past is as relevant as the present. Reviving decoration and historicism, the Proust chair has been interpreted using Impressionist brush strokes with its rococo detailing.''  (The Proust armchair, 2011, Geoffry Gertz)

''We can define 'haute femme' as bringing back the romanticism and plush comfort of eras past and adding whimsical modern twists. Perhaps the first person to introduce this idea was Italian designer Alessandro Mendini in 1978 when he came out with his Proust chair (Poltrona di Proust) as a part of his Redesigns Furniture series. He believed that modern design was running out of new ideas and turned to redecorating classics as a solution. Here, he painted a Louis XV chair with imagery that evokes the work of 19th century writer Marcel Proust.''

^http://stylebust.com/2010/08/07/sassy-seating-more-haute-femme-chairs/

Sources of information and pictures:

sparked, 2011, the-proust-armchair. [online] Available at: <http://www.sparked.biz/2011/04/21/the-proust-armchair/  18/11/12^http://stylebust.com/2010/08/07/sassy-seating-more-haute-femme-chairs/ 18/11/12> [Accessed 18 November 2012]

sparked, 2010, the-proust-armchair. [online] Available at: <http://www.sparked.biz/2011/04/21/the-proust-armchair/> [Accessed 18 November 2012]