Chair Avatars
This is a display area for my spare chairs - my various Twitter avatars.
Why Chairs?
Chairs symbolize social interaction. They invite you to sit down and stay a while; take a load off. You're probably sitting right now. We sit down to digest news. We sit to think. We sit to be social. You might say chairs are the first social media. Okay, you wouldn't but let's pretend.
Some beautiful chairs are painful to sit on (talkin' to you Frank Lloyd Wright, and owners of Indian restaurants everywhere). Many comfy chairs can look quite ugly. Chairs can fit with all situations - from thrones to bean-bags. Lawn chairs say "relax, enjoy the weather." Kitchen chairs say "have a bite." Dentists' chairs say "sit down and scream a while."
As an early user of Twitter in '07, I began to explore a dynamic avatar idea – it was always easy to identify my feed based on the avatar's subject matter, but the actual image changed often. If you followed me and my meanderings, I hope you found the conversation fun and/or thoughtful. Pull up a chair.
The avatar history is captured below...
Sep 29, 2016
Marcel Breuer's Cesca Chair Classic
In the heart of the Bauhaus movement, in 1928, famed designer and architect Marcel Breuer created a simple form of bent tubular steel, beech framing and hand-woven cane. The Cesca chair (pronounced "cheska") is a classic among classics. Many of us still see this model on a regular basis as we make our ways through the world. There are many variations, with and without arms, with all manner of upholstery and synthetic materials for the seat, back and arms. But the form is unmistakable. Breuer was reportedly inspired by the structure of bicycles and their use of tubular steel.
The design made the most of modern materials of the time. The cantilever of the seat and arms takes a frame that seems wispy thin and insubstantial and supports all the weight of the user on a couple of simple, gracefully radiused bends. In the original cane version, the light through the back and seat make them appear similarly ethereal. Cescas were produced by big guys like Knoll and Thonet. But over the years many knock-offs emerged. There was some debate over who was first-to-conceive of tubular-steel for chairs, so it a patent wasn't pursued.
The Cesca was named after the designer's daughter Francesca.
I bought a pair of used Cescas for $13 each a few years ago, and donated them to a local charity shop when I didn't need them for my office anymore. I'm a bit nostalgic now though, and think I should probably have one around, just to look at occasionally. But a visit to a bank or an office, or a friend's home and I'll probably see one off to the side, doing yeoman's service as they have for nearly 100yrs.
The design made the most of modern materials of the time. The cantilever of the seat and arms takes a frame that seems wispy thin and insubstantial and supports all the weight of the user on a couple of simple, gracefully radiused bends. In the original cane version, the light through the back and seat make them appear similarly ethereal. Cescas were produced by big guys like Knoll and Thonet. But over the years many knock-offs emerged. There was some debate over who was first-to-conceive of tubular-steel for chairs, so it a patent wasn't pursued.
The Cesca was named after the designer's daughter Francesca.
I bought a pair of used Cescas for $13 each a few years ago, and donated them to a local charity shop when I didn't need them for my office anymore. I'm a bit nostalgic now though, and think I should probably have one around, just to look at occasionally. But a visit to a bank or an office, or a friend's home and I'll probably see one off to the side, doing yeoman's service as they have for nearly 100yrs.
