Until I came across its name a few days ago, I, like many of you, knew the above as "those white plastic chairs." The monobloc has had its share of lovers and haters, but no matter which camp you're in, you've seen one, you've sat in one, and so has nearly everyone in the world.
One is born in just 70 seconds in 11 different countries. No, not babies. Monobloc chairs. Maxwell says it takes 10 days, but you come to appreciate their comforting presence. Most of you didn't agree, and I can see your point. In the March issue of Dwell, they muse over why some chairs are in museums, but monobloc is everywhere. With plastic as the material of the future, it was the dream to make a chair from a single piece of it. Panton had to do his by hand, but it was the monobloc that achieved it:
The chair itself is versatile and accessible, and at a mere three-sixteenths of an inch thick, it's functional, flexible, and within the grasp of the masses--in other words, a modernist dream fulfilled. But how does this utopian vision end? Unsung ubiquity, it seems. Lacking nearly every form of inspiration-- that key quality that divides the great from the merely present--is it any surprise we hardly know the monobloc's name?
Not everyone finds the monobloc so uninspiring. Arnd Friedrichs and Kerstin Finger put together a book called 220ºC Virus Monobloc: The Infamous Chair, sharing the history of the monobloc, as well as art and design using or inspired by the chair. The chairs have even been upgraded and used in European cafés and restaurants. More than just your frat house's patio furniture, the monobloc has even been reinvented as wheelchairs and bike taxis in places like Cambodia and Mexico.
Despite its flimsy construction and overabundance, next time I see one of those white plastic chairs, I'll be respectful and address it by its proper name.
(Images: 1. Dwell, 2-4. 220ºC Virus Monobloc: The Infamous Chair, via Creative Review, 5. Front via Design Boom, 6. Free Wheelchair Project via Design Boom)
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I have a hard time being respectful to this chair. Where I live, they are scattered, dirty and broken, across unkempt grassy yards and on well used porches falling into disrepair. For me, they symbolize a lifestyle of people who make up the worst of my local neighbourhoods, not because they are poor, but because they don't care, or were never taught to care, about taking care of their homes or yards, and who spend all hours smoking in front of their foul mouthed elementary aged children, while their neglected animals roam the streets. Sorry, they might be fun for someone else, but when i see them, I don't like what I see.
It is nice to know that those chairs have a name. I have 4 sitting on my porch (which I relucting bought before a large summer party) and I remember every spring having to wash my parent's ones before a party. It is a strange stable that is always there but never acknowledged.
They'e uncomfortable and not much to look at, but sturdy for the price. I'd rather sit on the floor than buy one for my home because, once they're no longer new, they can't be made to look clean.
The wood one actually looks pretty cool - and those wheelchairs are such a great idea!
For me these chairs represent either a lack of imagination or poverty. Either way they always seem to be filthy, with a well of water in the seat. But what bothers most is the idea that our landfills will be full of these chairs unless they are recyclable and people have a place to bring them for that purpose.
I wish I could have one made with solid gold!
Several of the comments about these chairs and, more specifically, the types of people these chairs invoke, illustrate a major defect in the fabric of our society. These chairs evoke disgust concerning poverty? Please. To quote mrsberg "For me, they symbolize a lifestyle of people who make up the worst of my local neighbourhoods, not because they are poor, but because they don't care, or were never taught to care, about taking care of their homes or yards, and who spend all hours smoking in front of their foul mouthed elementary aged children, while their neglected animals roam the streets. Sorry, they might be fun for someone else, but when i see them, I don't like what I see."
People in poverty don't always choose not to care. People in poverty are not afforded the luxury of being able to care for their lawns, pouring over home design or landscaping magazines and blogs to create a curb appeal for their home that appeases you, the judgy neighbor. People in poverty are often not afforded the opportunity to be educated, to afford food to allow their pets to live indoors, and often the culture that poverty reproduces is one of poor health habits (smoking) and perhaps foul language...but people in poverty are never given the opportunity to experience anything else, so this "poverty culture" gets reinforced and reproduced to younger generations of poverty-stricken youth. Your judgement on "those people" only serves to marginalize them further, so congrats on that.
As for the Monobloc? It is a chair. It works just as well as an Eames or what have you. Place that fancy Eames chair outside for a summer of BBQs and block parties and it will get dirty too. At least I don't have to feel bad about spray painting my Eames.
Using a chair to critique the ethics of those in poverty, though? Shame on you people, shame on you.
Anyone tried painting these? Can it be done?
after hurricane Ike hit Galveston TX, thousands of them were found washed up on shores all over the state. One person in Corpus collected hundreds of them.
A low cost material that can help the disabled in communities that are without money...great idea. Congratulations to someone who can do good in the world with something so available and low cost. I'm sure the people who now have chairs have something positive to say about them (although like Degerkas I have let them drift into my visual subconscious).
mrsberg is right on with her comment about the symbolism of these chairs. I have no problem with the object itself, but to me it unfortunately completely conjurs up images such as those she spoke of. Almost exactly, actually.
Well, I find the white ones ugly because they always look dirty (and are frequently broken as well). But, the colorful ones are pretty nice and the wooden one is beautiful. I would happily have that one in my house.
@supergirl377
I grew up in poverty and knew not to smoke, didn't swear like a lot of my friends and was taught to care for the things I did have because we couldn't just purchase new ones. One generalized assumption about a group of people is no better than the next. Maybe the people mrsberg has in the neighborhood are genuinely unpleasant people. You can be in poverty and still learn to be pleasant, teach your children good behavior and care for your few possessions.
@supergirl377 - right on.
I feel I should reply to to Supergirl377. My comment was not meant to be taken as "poor people are gross", and I am sorry if it read that way. I live in an area with a high poverty level. There are those who struggle to feed and clothe their families, but do so with pride in what little they have. They keep things clean, they work hard to keep those standards of cleanliness within reach and make fine neighbours. I'm not well off by any means either; so it is not me putting my nose in the air. The chairs (in my own perception) invoke a contrast to that; those who can afford cigarettes and fast food everyday (yes, I see the wrappers and bags laying on the unkempt yards), who have regular visits from CPS, who generally do not take pride in anything. These are the ones I spoke of, people not caring, and leaving these chairs to rot in the tall grasses and be gnawed on by squirrels. I did not mean to offend you or anyone else. But if this is what the monobloc represents to me, then it is what it is.
I am wide and get stuck in them. They are light enough so when I stand up I bring the chair with me. Not cool.
I ALSO have a hard time being respectful to this chair. Whenever I see them, I cannot get over the horrible people they are associated with. People with educations, yet knowing nothing. Letting their children romp with abandon, as there are no teachers to discipline them, due to their home-schooling experiment. People with no respect for the value of money, willing to waste exhorbitant sums on a chair that isn't even comfortable. They wear hot turtlenecks while sipping expensive coffee from their ugly little nespresso machines while sitting in a chair whose slick surface forces them to slide forward. Yet they continue to praise the chair's shape as iconic, though no one really likes sitting in them. And the filthy garbage that spews from their mouths. A mixture of cursing and pseudo-libertarian intellectualism drawn from watching one too many Bill Moyers television and Dali Llama programs combined with confusion over the origins of HOT yoga and macrobiot....... Wait. Wait a minute.
We're talking about the Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chair, aren't we?
@ supergirl377 - As someone who actually grew up going to school with duct tape on her shoes to hold them together just a little bit longer, I can tell you that those people DO exist.
It isn't that all poor people live this way; it's that people who live this way are poor. It's an I'll-do-what-I-want-because-I-don't-give-a-shit-and-you-can't-make-me attitude that leads to littering, ghetto lawns with half-hidden bits of rusting metal, and sad, scraggly animals who are not beloved members of the family but guard dogs or vermin chasers or whatever.
If you go back over the original comment, you will see specifically stated that it ISN'T because of poverty - just that this behavior is found in poorer neighborhoods which, if you think about it, makes sense. If all of your stuff is crap, or something that you rent, why take care of it?
Meanwhile, there are plenty of corporations with the same I'll-leave-my-shit-wherever-I-please attitude, so it is not just people.
From what I can tell, at least in the case of my father, it was a totally passive aggressive "f- you" to our neighbors and HOA and city inspectors. He was a poor little man with a poor little life and the only power he had was to make others feel miserable because at least they noticed him.
These chairs will always be anathema for me.
It has nothing to do with poverty, and everything to do with aesthetics. To me, they're just plain ugly. (A quick look through AT or most any other design blog will amply show that there are plenty of fancy expensive ugly things too, of course.)
I don't have scads of money, but I would rather have (and DO have, actually) curbside or dumpster finds instead of these.
http://lovelylisting.icanhascheezburger.com/ This blog, which makes fun of unusual real estate listings has a long running joke about these chairs. They use personification and make up stories about "Chair," and provide some solid cheap laughs.
The reverse is true, too. Some of the kids of rich parents attending a nearby expensive private university have made it infamous for rudeness and shameful language. They've had ample opportunity and resources, yet their ugly treatment of visitors during home games is notorious. About the monobloc, its plastic is so soft that it scratches easily, dirt gets in the scratches, and there's no way to make it look nice. Cleaning it just scratches it more. Gray, black, or dark mottled monoblocs would be more easily maintained than the usual white ones because the finish damage would be less visible. The monobloc is popular only because it doesn't fall apart as fast as other options sold at that low price. I don't know whether Krylon plastic paint would last on a monobloc.
A big wooden spool or kitchen chair found in an alley makes a better looking and sturdier seat. It is cool to think about everywhere these chairs are in the world, but I would rather have something that is not a huge piece of plastic that will soon break or bend and become unusable and go to the landfill. Buying one of these chairs is the complete opposite of reduce, reuse, recycle.
@ Miami's Elaine - But your reference has nothing to do with the chairs.
@moodystarr - Lovely Listing was my first thought, as well!
Oh, AT comments...I see a post about a chair and its surprising range of design, no big deal, it does not move me emotionally. I read the comments and these chairs represent social issues. The responses gave me a needed chuckle, so thank you, AT community!
As for myself, I usually see these in a dirty condition, but anything white and outdoors tends to do that, from Cadillac cars to monobloc chairs. However, I do like the other, bright colors and could imagine them on my deck. And the wood one looks neat--wonder if it is actually wood, or faux bois?
I have been thinking of these chairs a lot recently! I don't see why everyone is so hard on them, So what if they are cheap, so what if they are mass produced, they are a great design. When used right, ANYTHING CAN BE CHIC!
They serve a purpose. Their affordability means that more people can sit down, all over the world! Sometimes one can sit in one and get some delicious street food, or get a pedicure for a couple of bucks! Let's not begrudge people the opportunity to take the weight off their feet!
No matter how you dress it up, no matter how you spin it; no matter how poetic the delivery or how glossy the photos; this chair will always and forever be hideous. I'm certain that the main reason I find it so ugly is its ubiquity. Like some of the other posters, when I think of this chair I also think of dirty, unkempt yards with cars up on blocks and houses with bedsheets in the windows and porches with peeling paint.
Unfortunately, not all functional items have to be pretty, so I anticipate this chair being around for a long time. They're cheap, they're plentiful, and people always need a chair to sit in.
Thanks for recommending Lovely Listing, freaky fun I bookmarked immediately.
I've seen and sat on the monobloc in many countries on many continents. They are Mac-chairs in a way, but I have sweet memories, meeting them in the remotest areas in the world. However, the concern is how to recycle them, as they rot and break very easily.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94063850@N00/6798609368/in/photostream -This is my personal favorite, Lagano Lake in Ethiopia, very early in the morning
I spent two days with a group of people in the Philippines scrubbing mud off this type of chair after their typhoon. They seem easy to take care of, but they have lots of nooks and crannies and I have no desire to ever clean this type of chair again! Although I am intrigued by the colorful ones.
Funny... I remember the original post (an AT classic) and thinking that Maxwell was either playing a joke or losing his mind. Though I must say, the 5th image is along the lines of an intriguing thought I've had for a while - what if these could be given inexpensive "skins" to make them more fashionable and comfortable. I love the idea of taking a mass produced item and personalizing it. Though I don't think I will be buying any monoblocs any time soon... and by soon I mean never.
I remember reading this chair described as "tupperware that holds your ass" and I can't help thinking that every time I see one, LOL.
@SUPERGIRL377
Thank you thank you thank you. The ignorant, privileged classism that often overtakes the comments section can be so ignoring.
@MRSBERG
You sound like an insufferable snob and if you're so damn posh MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE that's better suited to your refined tastes.
should read, "can be so annoying..."
I have avoided these things ever since one collapsed on me on a hot summer day. A leg gave way on it and I went for a tumble. Not fun. Same thing happened to my 90 year old dad a year later at a neighbour's place. Even less fun. I've seen them dressed up with fabric covers, llooks good and you'd never know what was under there but I just don't trust them any more.
Oops, sorry about the double "l", had a spazfinger I guess.
DOCTORECKS Your post made me laugh. It is funny how everybody is turning up their noses at these chairs just because they are common. Some of the ugliest pieces of furniture I've seen are also the most expensive. While they are not the chair of my dreams by a long stretch, I have to admit amazement by their global domination. I've seen them in the most remote, impoverished African villages, and also in very posh posh American cities. I've always wondered about their history, and it is ironic that awards are bestowed upon modernist designers who make chairs that probably nobody will buy, but the Monobloc, which is wildly successful, is laughed at. Thankfully, I am reaching a point where I can look past the prejudices I have picked up against "common" things and see the functionality in them. Last summer while hosting an outdoor party for 50+ people I swallowed my pride and purchased a stack of these. They certainly won't show up at future smaller gatherings, but their cost, comfort, and ease of storage allowed me to have seating that otherwise would have been out of my reach. So THANK YOU MONONBLOC.
Yes, that plastic paint seems to work. I bought a couple of the plastic chairs that are made to resemble adirondacks, for $3 each at a thrift store. They were badly faded green and I wanted red, so I used the spray paint as primer, then coated that with exterior latex that was closer to the color I wanted. I guess it's good to have reclaimed them, but in sheer financial terms (including the time/work involved) it wasn't worth it at all.
The stigmas and stereotypes that you people have associated with these chairs are either laughable or disgusting, I can't decide. It's a chair. There isn't a certain class of people associated with the use of them. That's the same kind of thought that breeds racism, classism, and any other bigotry. My husband and I make a fine living. And we have an appreciation for design. But when a family picnic rolls around, these chairs (that came with the house) come out. Get over yourselves.
I hold no ill will toward these chairs, other than it's a shame that they're either dirt cheap and ugly, like Vico Magistretti's Vicario Chair for Artemide, beautiful but ridiculously expensive.
That should be "...or like Vico Magistretti's Vicario Chair..."
Doh!
These chairs remind me of my Peace Corps service in Honduras. The chairs are ubiquitous in Honduras. They are used inside, outside, at offices, everywhere. Most people cannot afford anything more. As Peace Corps volunteers, we could not afford more, and were just happy to have chairs, just like the locals.
So yes, when I see these chairs, I think of poor people, but these were some of nicest people I've ever met, and I'm reminded of a wonderful and significant period of my life.
Mrs. Berg. OMG! Let them eat cake? This is not cool at all.
@SUPERGIRL – hear hear
@DOCTORECKS – hilarious!
@AIEKAN - "I'm certain that the main reason I find it so ugly is its ubiquity."
Seriously? Do you also apply this criteria to blades of grass, babies, banknotes? You must live an ugly, ugly world.
After reading the comments on this post I’m starting to feel an strong urge to go out and buy 12 of these chairs immediately. I will of course strew them around my street indiscriminately and then sit on the ground and while I save up for an Eames something.
I love this because it makes you think or most to think. I am looking at the "Monobloc" now.
I never looked at these chairs the same after seeing this sculpture:
http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/001819.php
My goodness MRSBERG where do you live??
I've found that a good way to judge an apartment complex is by the presence of these. Too many of them generally mean that the population is poor, young, or that they don't care about their surroundings. And when on the front porch, it likely indicates a smoker. Lots of smokers=increased risk of fire, and a smelly apartment as smoke goes through vents and what not. Our newest place has patios full of beautiful patio furniture. It's ended up being a great place, unlike our last one which was full of these chairs.
BTW, before anyone chimes in about me hating the poor b/c I want to live in a nice apartment complex with white collar workers, don't bother. Living around young party people who are loud, don't pick up their dog crap, leave their 100 lb barking dogs on the patio all day, smoke inside and burn down a whole building (happened to three different buildings in the 2 years we live there), and pile trash on their patios to the point that it attracts rats is NOT a pleasant experience.
I have a right to live in in a clean and quiet place should I so desire. I also have a right to judge what makes it clean and nice, and what not.
I do not hate poor people. We are not rolling in money ourselves.I have just found that people with nicer outdoor furnishings tend to be quieter and tend to take pride in where they live a bit more. They also tend to be older and more established and less likely to party till 4 am. In 2 years of living HERE, we have had zero problems.
Thanks, but I'll stand.
Sisterfunkhaus, I do seem to relate to your thinking....where I live now..there are a couple of those flimsy and faded chairs..right out front next to a tenant's door...when she sits there smoking..next to a planter with sand and butts in it..ugh..NEVER would I put one of those chairs near my apt or entry...because of that 'look'. But they do come in handy as extra seating when there is a large group expected..family get together etc..on a deck or in the yard...not a problem..at all! The colored ones look much nicer for the 'snobs' among us...but yes..a seat is a seat to thankfully 'sink into'..My real problem with them is the sick feeling I have of them and their ilk filling up this earth with the plastic and plastic and plastic of such..depressing..: (
@Sisterfunkhaus, that was actually a pretty helpful post. Note to self: neighborhoods filled with nice patio furniture are much more likely to be filled with snobby, obnoxious jerks. Stay away.
I understand Mrsberg's feelings, association can be strong. I myself have certain associations that until recently I really had a hard time shaking. Carnations are a perfect example, I love carnations now! Not the fake blue and green ones though!
at everyone attacking Mrsberg-lots of poor people suck! it's just a fact. whether it's their fault or not they normally have shitty attitudes and shitty yards and just don't meld well with the rest of society. whether the world has forsaken them or they have forsaken themselves it's just a FACT and i don't have to like them. i am semi-poor so i can say whatever i want ;)
ps-lots of rich people suck too, for various reason. so quit trying to coddle poor people and make excuses for them.
ok i realize my last comment is harsh. i love poor people, but as you can see there are not junky yards and houses on AT. they are outcasts. it is sad but true. and i know it's not always their fault. money does influence many things including your ability to mow your lawn, pick up trash, clean your house etc. i am only semi-poor and my husband says i am lazy and don't clean enough. :)