Eye On Design: Glass Armchair by Shiro Kuramata

Glass Armchair
Photographed By Gail in the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

In the mid-to-late 20th century, an atmosphere of innovation and a desire to question the tenets of modernism led some designers to explore a variety of ways in which to shape space. American Architect and Designer Alexander Hayden Girard utilized color and pattern in textiles, particularly in this colorful abstract, or folk art-inspired work for Herman Miller.


Glass Armchair at Albertz Benda
Glass Chair, with Robot Cabinet By Ettore Sottsass, Photographed at Albertz Benda Gallery

By 1970, Japanese Architect and Interior Designer  Shiro Kuramata (1934 – 1991) was introducing alternative materials such as acrylic and industrial plate glass into his furniture. Utilizing a newly developed adhesive, Kuramata achieved material and visual minimalism with this Glass Armchair (1976). Flat planes of glass are bonded together along their edges, without mounts or screws, to create a functional chair that seems simultaneously visible and invisible. The transparent form invites users to question notions of materiality, utility and comfort.

Glass Armchair
Photographed in the Met Breuer (September 2017)

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