Wikipedia

Rover chair

The Rover chair is the first piece of furniture designed by industrial designer Ron Arad. It was made in 1981 as a fusion of two readymades and launched Arad's career. The chair is a postmodernist design, combining a car seat with a structural tubing frame.

Rover chair
Chair exhibited at the Barbican Art Gallery, London, 2010
DesignerRon Arad
Date1981 (United Kingdom)
MaterialsSteel frame, leather car seat
Style / traditionPostmodernist
Sold byVitra (Switzerland)
Height78 cm (31 in)
Width69 cm (27 in)
Depth92 cm (36 in)

History edit

Arad had left his employment with a firm of architects,[1] and obtained the parts to make the chair from a scrapyard in Chalk Farm, London.[1][2] The readymade[3] chair was the first piece of furniture he produced.[4][5]

The red[6][7] leather seat is from a Rover P6[8][9] and is housed in a black[10] painted curved steel frame made from a Kee Klamp milking stall.[1][6][8] Later exhibited pieces had epoxy lacquered frames.[11] The frame provides both feet and arm rests.[12]

The Rover P6 is sometimes known as the 2000. Some reports of the chair refer to it being made using seats from the 200,[2][13] P5[14] or 90.[15]

Furniture maker Joe Hall visited Arad's Covent Garden shop in the mid-1980s and then collaborated with him to make further chairs. Hall scoured the country's scrapyards for P6 seats, which cost £5–£15 each and were in excellent condition.[8]

The chairs sold for £99 each in 1981,[2] about three times the production cost.[1] Original chairs made by Arad's One Off company[9] have been auctioned by Christie's,[16][17] Bonhams,[18][19] Bonhams & Butterfield[15] and Göteborgs Auktionsverk.[20][21] Hundreds have been produced since 1981, fetching thousands of pounds at auctions at the turn of the century.[2][8][22] The success of the chair, which has become an icon,[23] launched Arad's career.[6][11][24][25]

 
Rover two-seater, (1985)

The chairs were produced by One Off until 1989, and in 2008 were being produced by Vitra in two models.[12] A two-seater version was auctioned in 2011.[20][21]

Reception edit

Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier bought six chairs[1][2] in 1981. They also attracted the attention of furniture manufacturer Vitra.[11] The chair is recognised as a postmodernist design.[26]

A presenter of BBC Television's Top Gear sat on such a chair from 1988.[2] The chair also featured in a television advertisement for an unrelated product.[27] Arad's own children were breast-fed on the chair.[24]

Exhibitions edit

The chair has formed part of various exhibitions, including those at London's Design Museum,[13] Barbican Art Gallery,[10] Timothy Taylor Gallery,[28] Paris's Centre Pompidou[11][29] and New York's Museum of Modern Art.[6][25]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Fountain, John. "'Rover Chair' by Ron Arad". Creativepool Blog. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gleadell, Colin (30 March 2009). "Ron Arad: the designer who redrew the borders". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  3. ^ Manson, Neil (25 May 2005). "Chairmaster". artnet. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  4. ^ Cohen, Tobi. "Design of the times". BMI Voyager. British Midland International. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  5. ^ Burnett, Kate (11 March 2010). "Ron Arad". idfx. Retrieved 19 June 2012.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b c d Ciuraru, Carmela (17 August 2009). "Ron Arad: No Discipline at MoMA". California Literary Review. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  7. ^ Treggiden, Katie. "out and about :: ron arad restless". confessionsofadesigngeek. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d Baxter, Andrew (19 May 2001). "Any old iron". The Daily telegraph. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  9. ^ a b Browne, Alix (19 August 2009). "Radical Chic". T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  10. ^ a b Heathcote, Edwin (27 February 2010). "Ron Arad at Barbican Art Gallery". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d "Ron Arad: www.c No Discipline". Exhibition trails. Centre Pompidou. Archived from the original on 21 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  12. ^ a b "Ron Arad – the art of design". Artprice.com. December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Ron Arad: 25/25 – Celebrating 25 Years of Design". Design at the Design Museum. Design Museum. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  14. ^ "Rover P5 Saloon MkIII". Brightwells. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  15. ^ a b Soetriyono, Eddy (18 January 2008). "Ron Arad's Avant-garde Furniture Movement". C-Arts. Retrieved 19 June 2012. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  16. ^ "SALE 6533 LOT 127". Christie's. 25 May 1994. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  17. ^ "SALE 9098 LOT 322". Christie's. 16 May 2001. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  18. ^ "Ron Arad for One Off Ltd, a 'Rover' chair, designed 1981". Auction 18807. Bonhams. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  19. ^ "Ron Arad for One Off Ltd". Auction 20166. Bonhams. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  20. ^ a b "Göteborgs Auktionsverk, Dags för kvalitetsauktion i Göteborg". hittaauktion.com. 21 November 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  21. ^ a b "Göteborgs Auktionsverk – Kvalitetsauktion 28 november 2011. Auktionsnummer 37 – Ron Arad". mynewsdesk.com. 16 November 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  22. ^ Banks, Tom (8 September 2008). "Street art bonanza at Phillips de Pury auction". Design Week. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  23. ^ Villinger, Carina. "Ron Arad – Before and After". designinfo. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  24. ^ a b Seno, Alexandra A. (22 January 2010). "The Future of Industrial Design". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  25. ^ a b Biography (PDF), Museum of Modern Art, retrieved 19 June 2012
  26. ^ Julius, Corinne (19 September 2011). "Postmodernism: the -ism with attitude". Homes & Property. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  27. ^ Aldersey-Williams, Hugh (19 June 2000). "Professor of cool". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  28. ^ "Ron Arad". Timothy Taylor Gallery. Timothy Taylor Gallery. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  29. ^ Piettre, Céline. "Ron Arad | Critique – No Discipline – Paris 4e. Centre Pompidou". parisART. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
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