Adding Comfort To Culture. Vitra Launches Fully Upholstered Versions Of Classic Eames Chairs.

The famous molded side and armchairs by Charles and Ray Eames, originally created in fiberglass in 1950, then made in plastic, now made of polypropylene, have become a little more comfy with the fully upholstered versions recently launched by Vitra.



The Eames plastic armchair (sometimes called the 'potato chip' chair) and the Eames plastic side chair, available in eight shell colors, are now offered with your choice of 13 different colors of Hopsak upholstery and black or white piping.

Hopsak upholstery colors for the armchair:


Shell colors for the armchair:


Hopsak upholstery colors for the side chair:

Shell colors for the side chair:


When you add these options to the base options (R-wire, wooden, X-base and La Fonda base, you get a large number of possible combinations. Casters are also available on the armchair.


above: the four base options for either chair and casters.

Black piping:

White piping:

Detail of black piping:


all images courtesy of Vitra.

You can purchase these upholstered Eames chairs from twenty twentyone or find a dealer through Vitra.

31 Customized Panton Chairs For Vitra In Honor Of The 50th Anniversary.

above: HKS International turned the chair on its side, transforming it into a glacier, complete with Polar Bear

The modern classic iconic Panton chair , shown below, designed by Verner Panton just celebrated it's 50th anniversary.



In honor of the anniversary Vitra UK launched a national Panton Chair Competition and asked architects and designers to reinterpret the modern chair. Some treated is as art, others made it interactive. The winning design was an entry from Jump Studios and the 2nd and 3rd place winners were Ben Adams and Maris Interiors, respectively. Entries ran the gamut and included everything from Post-It note covered to Swarovski crystal studded versions.

Here are all the entries.

Winner, Jump Studios:

2nd Place Winner, Ben Adams:

3Sphere and Aukett Fitzroy-Robinson:

Amalgam and Aram:

Day 2 Interiors:

Forme and Foster & Partners:

Gensler and Harmsen:

HLW Architects and HOK International:

3rd place winner, Maris Interiors:

Pascall & Watson and Inskip jenkins:

MCM Architecture:

Pret A Manger and Pringle Brandon:

Ridgestone and Schneider Designers:

Scott Brownrigg:

Sheppard Robson and Sketch Studios:

Staffan Tollgard:

The Lollipop Shoppe and Walker Martin:

Workspirit and Woods Bagot:

Yoo Design:

HKS International's entry is shown at the top of this post.

All 31 entries were auctioned on 1st July 2010 and the proceedings of about £10,000 were passed onto Shelter.

The judge’s panel included:
Charles Saatchi
TV presenter Kevin McCloud
Designer Terence Conran

all original photos (cropped for this post) by Nicole Bachmann © Vitra UK

Product Pick of The week: Hella Jongerius' Porcupine Desk For Kids

Designer Hella Jongerius' Porcupine Desk provides children with a perfect place to play or draw. The small wooden table contrasts appealingly with the plastic chairs and also asserts a distinctive identity with its asymmetrical shape.



The table surface shows a printed motif resembling a charm bracelet, with animal shapes and other symbols attached to a chain link circle. Some of the links in the chain are bored through the tabletop, so that colored markers supplied with the desk can be stored in the holes. Add a little imagination, and the table resembles a porcupine— which is what inspired the name.

Materials: Legs and table top made of solid hornbeam, water-based coloured lacquer, screenprinting, includes a set of high quality felt-tip pens.

Product Colors and Options: brown/light pink, 540 × 570 × 720 mm :


olive green/light blue, 540 × 570 × 720 mm :


Price is $915.00 USD
Manufactured and available through Vitra. Or at All Modern. Or at Unica Home. Or at Velocity.

Hella Jongerius site.