Llaannddii

The Landi chair has a practical and stylistic resilience compared to other examples of modernist furniture. It sits pleasantly with several contradictions, it is one of the few chairs that is acceptable both indoors and outdoors for example. The perforations are the ideal combination of pop and performance, polka dots versus speed holes. The arm rest seems to slump under its own weight like a wet noodle between two sticks, enough to be comfortable but not ironic. The anodised aluminium surface of the chair portrays a techno-elegance, a sleight of hand performed by Apple, turning an invaluable material and industrial chemical process into a symbol of quality and luxury. Lastly aluminium shell chairs are rare compared to plastic or plywood, it is difficult to deform without cracking and the material is sensitive in the production process. For this reason you don't see low cost reproductions that can spoil the perception of a piece because it slips into ubiquity, it is unique but an unmistakably industrial product.

We were asked to respond to the Landi chair, developed by Hans Coray for the Swiss National Exhibition of 1939. We reworked the parsimonious proportions of the chair and redesigned it with different criteria. It is inflated, widened and lowered, like digitally changing and scaling the sliders on a piece of software before being fossilised in European Walnut. It’s a critical response, but also carries an aesthetic and functional appeal. Soft and rounded holes and proportions are comfortable and pleasing, in the style mid-century sculpted furniture, but completely betray the egalitarian, industrially produced and financially accessible (15 francs at the time) original.

The Llaannddii chair was acquired by Vitra Design Museum for their permanent collection. Zurich, September 2024. Photos by Soft Baroque and Louis De Belle.