NELSON BRIDGE’S LIST OF TOP TEN MODERN CHAIRS - #03 - The Bird Chair

The Bird Chair, #3 in our list of Most Favorite Modern Chairs

The Bird Chair is as much “sculpture” as it is “chair” which is not surprising since its creator Harry Bertoia went on to become a Sculptor in his own right.  Ironically it was the great success of his furniture for Knoll International (and the income it generated) that enabled him to pursue his sculptural ambitions (his later life was almost exclusively dedicated to his Art).

As Bertoia said of his furniture designs: “they are mainly made of air, like sculpture. Space passes through them.”

Through his revolutionary use of wire rod, Bertoia was able to create an incredibly strong and yet seemingly delicate and fluid shape through this basket weave of metal.  Though the Bird chair is one of the lesser known of the series of chairs that he made for knoll with this technique (the Diamond Chair was more successful), it is perhaps the most evocative and animated.

Harry Bertoia was born in San Lorenzo, Pordenone, Italy in 1915.  At the age of 15 he traveled to Chicago to visit his brother and ended up making the US his home.  Upon arriving here,   he  began his studies at Cass Technical High School in Chicago and finished at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.  There he met and began work with Charles & Ray Eames.  After helping to develop some of the Eames’ most well known plywood and metal rod chairs, he moved to Pennsylvania to begin his own furniture collection for Florence Knoll (of Knoll International) who he had met during his time at Cranbrook.  This is where he further developed his use of metal wire in the creation of his series of chairs for Knoll.

Of all the chairs he developed for Knoll, the Bird Chair took the modern chair to a new, more sculptural realm and that is why it is our #3 most favorite Modern Chair.

Learn More About Harry Bertoia and The Bird Chair:

http://www.knoll.com/designer/designer_detail.jsp?designer_id=22

http://www.knoll.com/products/brochures/Bertoiabird.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Bertoia

http://bertoiaharry.com/