The 10 Best Chairs Ever, Part 1

The first chair a human ever sat on was probably a rock. Handy, durable, not very portable, inexpensive. Happily the species evolved a sense of style, which is why the following spectacular chairs exist, making our lives immeasurably better. If you had one of these chairs, you would be happy, and your friends would be envious. Life would be good. Unfortunately, they are more expensive than rocks.

The Bibendum Chair by Eileen Gray
Before Bibendum was a trendy Terence Conran restaurant in London named after the Michelin Man, there was the Bibendum chair by Eileen Gray. Designed in 1929 but not manufactured until after her death in 1976, it is a perfect blend of proto-Bauhaus pure-geometric form and creature comfort. (And excuse me while I name-drop, but the first time I ever heard of Eileen Gray was from Sir Terence himself when I interviewed him at his London apartment many moons ago; he had an Eileen Gray settee in his entryway.) This plump puppy can be had for about $2,000 at Bauhaus2YourHouse.com, but there are other less pricy versions on the market. (I’ve seen it advertised for as low as $499.)

 

The Hudson Chair by Philippe Starck
Among my favorite recent seats is this icon of shiny simplicity, Philippe Starck’s polished aluminum Hudson Chair, one of the many perches he’s created for Emeco. They were originally designed for Ian Schrager’s Hudson Hotel in 2000, and I would love to have six of them sitting around a breakfast table at my place, which is, in fact, not far from Hudson Street (available at Design Within Reach for about $1,300 each; DWR.com).

 

The Lady Chair by Marco Zanuso
Of all the mid-century beauties to choose (The Egg, The Womb, The Swan, etc., etc.), I love Marco Zanuso’s Lady Chair the best. He designed it for Arflex in 1951, and there’s something about it that I just find magical. It looks to me like the seat a visionary designer might fabricate for the kind of airplane human beings would actually like to fly in. At the very least it’s got first-class lounge written all over it (Arflex.it; about $2,500 new; vintage prices vary).

 

The Hill House Chair by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
While I think that the most important thing about a chair is comfort, I have to make an exception with Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s extraordinarily prescient ultra-grid of a black-lacquered ladder-back marvel, designed around 1902, a chair I will probably never sit on (but boy would I love a pair flanking a minimalist commode under a Franz Klein painting in the entryway of my Park Avenue penthouse… but I digress.) I never cared much for Mackintosh until I visited his Glasgow School of Art and saw his work in situ. MetropolitanDecor.com has Hill House chairs on sale for $1,280 (regularly $1,792), or you can buy a Vitra miniature for $260 at UnicaHome.com (now on sale at 15% off).

 

The Bubble Chair by Eero Arnio
Okay, maybe it’s just because I came of age in the ‘60s, but I have been in love with this chair ever since it was designed in 1968. Its predecessor, the Ball Chair (a white womb with a red wool lining) was part of my youthful affair with the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. The Bubble is pure Mod; it’s available for $1,700 on InMod.com, which also sells the Ball Chair, for $900).

 

Here a little bonus: The Bubble in U.K. design star Kelly Hoppen’s London kitchen near a photo of Mohammed Ali boxing underwater.

For more of the 5 others, check out The Best Chairs Ever, Part 2.  

Michael Lassell,
Features Director, Metropolitan Home