apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

That was cool! The authorized eames "fiberglass" chairs that are sold by DWR and other places are no longer made with fiberglass.

Modernica says they use the same technique (including the same presses) that Herman Miller used way back when. It would be interesting to see a video of their fibergalss chairs being made.

it's a shame they wanted to make an "artistic" bit of film instead of a truly instructional bit of film. the extreme closeups throughout the entire thing pretty much just pissed me off rather than showing me how they designed and made the chairs.

Neat! This video reminds me of the factory videos they would have on Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Those were my favorite. :)

oh, I like this. And yes, it's totally Mr. Roger's Neighborhood!

sparkle is so right!! That was fun to watch.

i was at the Indianapolis Museum of Art and they had a video all on how the eames recliner is made. good video as well.

isn't fiberglass bad to breathe in?

Completely fascinating!

David--there seem to be lot of boxes marked "made in China" around Modernica.

And how come the guy is working with fiberglass and doesn't have a mask or respirator? It's a carcinogen. Of course, they didn't realize that when the film was made.

The film, like the lounge chair film, was done by Charles Eames.

i love how this cute video pissed someone off...

Shouldn't that guy have a mask on?

It's a film, not a video.Here's a great story from a Sydney paper about the chair, and the reasons for the changes, etc.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/style--grooming/story-of-a-chair/2007/06/18/1182018983560.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap7

Palmetto, since when is fiberglass a carcinogen? NIOSH lists fibrous glass as an irritant. Are you thinking of Asbestos?

I loved the music more than anything! nice way to start the weekend =)

http://www.consumerlawpage.com/article/fiber.shtml

"Fiber glass is now causing serious health concerns among U.S. officials and health researchers. Dr. Mearl F. Stanton of the National Cancer Institute found that glass fibers less then 3 microns in diameter and greater than 20 microns in length are "potent carcinogens" in rats; and, he said in 1974, "it is unlikely that different mechanisms are operative in man." A micron is a millionth of a meter (and a meter is about three feet). Since that time, studies have continued to appear, showing that fibers of this size not only cause cancer in laboratory animals, but also cause changes in the activity and chemical composition of cells, leading to changes in the genetic structure in the cellular immune system. Although these cell changes may be more common (and possibly moreimportant) than cancer, it is the cancer-causing potential of glass fibers that has attracted most attention."


http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-fiberglass-the-carcinogen-thats-deadly-and-everywhere/
That's why Miller and the Eames heirs stopped making the chairs in fiberglass. Owens Corning got hit with a class action lawsuit in 2006.

The insulation is safe, but not what the man in the flim is doing.