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Not to mention the fact that they are extremely uncomfortable for your back.

Anyone remember Tron?

We do have a couple of KG chair one. We love them! As a former Bertoia addict, We were seeing the Bertoias everywhere. The only problem is that the KG chair one will crash against your decor if you are heavy on the MCM designers. We didn't have a problem as they are sitting (no pun intended) on the back patio. very futuristic looking! click on my sig for a real photo of one!

regards,

joel+maria
blueantstudio.com

PLEASE don't ever compare the Bertoia ANYTHING to the hideous and ridiculous Ugg boot.

Dear god.

I have a pair of the Bertoia side chairs. I think they're actually very comfortable as long as they have the bottom cushion. I do like the Chair One as well. The entire cafe at the San Francisco deYoung Museum has them and it looks great.

How about something a bit more classic? I have wanted to own the Hans Coray Landi chair forever. It was designed for the Swiss National Exhibition in 1939 and has been in production ever since albeit with some design modifications.

Here it is at MOMA
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A8062&page_number=1&template_id=1&sort_order=1

I have always loved Donghia's Anziano chair (though not too similar in style to the Bertoia), as well as the Toledo chair by George Pensi. And that one is indoor/outdoor.

I second p(2). Ugg boots started out being over (not to mention hideous), not so with the Bertoia.
And so what if other people have them? If you like them, you like them.

i've had my ebay bertoia side chair for a year and everytime i look at it, my eyes still smile.

even before i read this post, i saw the pic and said 'damn, that's one hot chair.'

I third the motion on not comparing the Bertoia chairs to Ugg boots. Ugg boots are and always have been ugly. The weird thing about Ugg boots was their insane popularity in spite of their appearance. Comparing that Anthropologie chair (a post from last week) to Ugg boots is a much more accurate comparison.
The Bertoia chairs are and always have been attractive. The only way you can compare them to Ugg boots is in their popularity, although I believe the Ugg boots craze has almost completely waned (in the USA at least) while the MCM craze still seems to be going strong. Even when MCM is replaced by the next trend the Bertoia chair will still be a classic piece that will mix with other MCM pieces or just about any style imaginable for years to come.
I think the author's falling-out-of-love feeling with the Bertoia chair is that feeling you get when you love something because you think it is unique and then when everybody else catches on it loses it's appeal. Like the tiny family-owned pizza joint I used to love when nobody else went there. I read a post recently on this blog or another design blog where people were really burnt out on Cole & Son's "Woods" wallpaper because it was everywhere.
But like Jennifer said, if you like them, you like them. It shouldn't matter whether they are everywhere or if they are relatively unknown. If I stopped liking the underground musical artists I enjoyed once they go mainstream I'd have nothing left to listen to.
I will always love the look of the Bertoia chairs but probably won't ever buy one because I find them very uncomfortable, even with the pads.

I never understood the appeal of the bertoia chairs. I've always thought the idea of good design was form and function and to me a large part of function is comfort. I wouldn't want to sit in a bertoia for more than a few short minutes.
I'm a fan of the mcm look but I don't understand why people focus on so few designs. If I never see a noguchi table again, it will be too soon. Its as if someone published a book titled "want people to think you have taste even though you dont?" and listed the same mcm pieces we see in every trendy catalog.

Of course, I do have a pair of knockoff Eames mgmt chairs so.... :D

I have the Moooi Carbon Chairs which are a "knockoff"/riff on the Eames Wire Chairs and Fiberglass Chairs but in carbon fiber, so they are extremely strong and light. You can lift them with one finger yet they are still comfortable.

Click on my name for a picture.

Tired of your Bertoias?
Take it to Douglas Homer, and get it made over into a "Hairy Bertoia."

http://douglashomer.com/homer.html

Fur-toia?

I have a Bertoia chair and find it extremely comfortable -- not to mention classic, which can hardly be said for the Ugg boot!

Perhaps not as sleek and modern as you'd like, Ironrite Health chairs are the obsession in our apartment. We have a pair of the Bertoia chairs in our living room and I will never tire of them, but our kitchen table is surrounded by four slightly mismatched Ironrites, which are full of character. And while we've seen them scarily overpriced at stores, we've been able to pick them up here and there for around $25 each. I'd be happy to send photos...

anyone remember this from SNL?

Jeff: Is there a chair for me?
Nuni: You sit over there on that pile of hair.
Jeff: Oh, this is actually a cahir?
Noony: Why yes itÂ’s the Hair Chair by Mobus.

reminds me of hairy bertoia. which id say is a huge improvement on the classic. why the emphasis on light passing through? i can see your point, but id rather have a bit more heft, cleaner lines, less jumble jumble, and more appealing comfort level. the all wire construction has always made me think of cheap patio furniture. don't know why.

and as for ubiquity, i see fewer bertoias than arne jacobsen ant chairs or eames, but i never get sick of those. but i never saw the appeal of bertoia. one positive case of a newly popular chair (in magazines, ads, DWR)--poul kjaerholm. every time i see one of those puppies i just want to curl up and teleport back to midcentury land.

AT will be design equivalent of Ugg boots far before the Bertoia side chair is. Its the Bertoia chair that MoMA uses in its outdoor garden, after all.

Its sculpture you can sit on - its never going to be as comfortable as a La-Z-Boy recliner. But its comfortable enough - and probably far more comfortable than the uglier alternatives above.

And you can always skip the side chair and go straight to the Bertoia Diamond Chair or the Butterfly Chair and get in the full cover. I have the small diamond in full cover with a nice heavy weave fabric. The foam pad it comes with is quite firm and takes a lot of the edge of the wire frame construction.

What about the Leaf by Arper?

I've been thinking about getting the Bertoia chair myself. That Chair One is pretty awesome though...

I second the vote for the leaf chair by Arper. It's similar to the Bertoia but has a beauty all of it's own... http://www.homebug.net/2007/04/leaf-chairs-by-lievore-altherr-molina.html