The optimistic, consumer-oriented pop culture of the 1960s was typified by the striking and powerful image of the ball chair. The form seems to float above the compact base, giving it a space capsule image.
Aarnio was an innovator in the field of fiberglass and plastics, and the technology. The simple and powerful geometric form of the sphere is cool, polished and hard, which gives way to a soft, and cozy interior, where the sitter can isolate and protect oneself from the outside world even to the extent of changing the view at will by swiveling on the base. Thus the ball chair is a crossover piece, a link between furniture and architecture.
It is interesting that by using one of the simplest geometric forms, Eero could produce such a remarkably unconventional design: a room with in a room, with a cozy and calm atmosphere all its own. The sitter is protected from the outside world in a private place for relaxing or taking a phone call. Turning around its own axis on the base the view to the outer space is variable for the user and thus he is not completely excluded from world outside.
The authentic Vitra Miniature always comes in the little wooden packing box from the Vitra Design Museum Collection. |
