The Original Bubble Chair - Eero Aarnio - Modern Furniture 

Based on the idea of the Ball Chair the Bubble Chair is a reduction of this design. As Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said: Less is more! A masterpiece of reduction. Aarnio about Bubble Chair: "After I had made the Ball Chair I wanted to have the light inside it and so I had the idea of a transparent ball where light comes from all directions. The only suitable material is acrylic which is heated and blown into shape like a soap bubble. Since I knew that the dome-shaped skylights are made in this way I contacted the manufacturer and asked if it would be technically possible to blow a bubble that is bigger than a hemisphere. The answer was yes. I had a steel ring made, the bubble was blown and cushions were added and the chair was ready. And again the name was obvious: BUBBLE." Professional installation recommended.

 

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Eero Aarnio as pioneer in using plastic in industrial design
Aarnio was - and still is - one of the pioneers in using plastic in industrial design. Plastic material set the designers free to create every shape and use every color they wanted. This gave birth to objects oscillating between function and fun - but always fascinating ones.

The Finnish designer Eero Aarnio, born in 1932, studied from 1954 to 1957 at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki and started in 1962 with his own office as an interior and industrial designer.

Engaged in new ideas of furniture he designed the Ball Chair (or globe chair) already in 1963.

It was produced some years later. Material (fibreglass) and shape were complete novelties for that time's furniture industry. The fibreglass ball is build on a metal swiveling base, and upholstered with foam/fibrefill. The original colors were white, red, black and orange.

Sitting in this chair is a special experience, because all surrounding sounds are softed down, and it gives a certain feeling of privacy. Aarnio himself has a ball chair with a telephone in it, and some people had it fitted with speakers.

The Ball Chair is often used in sci fi films, and you’ll find it in magazines. Vivienne Westwood used some Ball Chairs in one of her shows. In the following years fibreglass as used in boat construction became one of Aarnio's favorite materials. The resistant and well workable fibreglass enabled Aarnio to design ergonomic forms without restrictions -and intriguing new ones too.

With Pastil Chair (American Industrial Design-Award 1968) and Tomato Chair he earned international reputation. Chairs like these can be used both indoors and outdoors, and they float!
- Besides, Pastil Chair gives a new, extraordinary idea of what a rocking chair is.

Also in 1968 Aarnio designed the Bubble Chair, made from acryl and chromed steel. An actual example of his design gives the new fibreglass chair Formula (1998).

And Eero Aarnio is still going on. At this website you'll find his recent designs e.g. Parabel table (1994), Focus chair (2000), and Tipi (2002).