landi chair - kada brochure.pdf · father with charles eames. in the background: the landi chair....

ChairDesign: Hans Coray, 1938

v

Landi

ChairDesign: Hans Coray, 1938

vSwiss National Exhibition, 1939 © Hans Baumgartner, Fotostiftung Schweiz

Design drawings by Hans Coray, 1938© Coray

The Landi ChairThe Landi Chair goes back to one of the

great moments in design history. Hans Coray,

humanist and artist, designed the aluminium

chair as the official seating for outdoor

areas of the 1939 Swiss National Exhibition.

He created a chair that would be weather-

proof, lightweight and comfortable and suited

for industrial production using the latest tech-

nical capabilities of aluminium processing.

The Landi Chair continues to set benchmarks

in industrial design through its efficient use

of materials and functional elegance. Yet up

to now, the history of the classic has been

marked by alternating manufacturers, breaks

in production and modifications to the origi-

nal design. Now seventy-five years after its

debut, the Landi Chair has found a new home

at Vitra.

Design drawings by Hans Coray, 1938© Coray

Swiss National Exhibition, 1939© Hans Baumgartner, Fotostiftung Schweiz

Pioneer of modernismThe Landi Chair took advantage of technical

advances in the processing of aluminium

like no other piece of furniture of its day.

Its understated, elegant design – perfectly

tailored to the needs of industrial production

and workmanship of the material – has

rightly gone down in history as a modern

masterpiece.

The seat shell of the Landi Chair not only

follows the contours of the sitter's body but,

in contrast to Alvar Aalto's plywood shells,

is also shaped in a transverse direction. For

the first time ever, Coray achieved a three-

dimensionally moulded seat shell whose

comfort is additionally enhanced by the flexi-

bility of the aluminium sheeting. The shell

is perforated with 91 punched holes, which

give the chair its characteristic appearance

and further reduce its weight.

For the base, Hans Coray used the material

aluminium in a different form: as extruded

profiles whose C-shaped cross section makes

them lightweight yet stable. The bent alu-

minium profiles each form a pair of legs with

an armrest and – connected by two thin struts

– simultaneously serve as the base. The perfo-

rated seat shell floats on top, connected

at just four points.

The Landi Chair thus introduced a structural

principle that was systematised and perfected

a few years later by Charles and Ray Eames

and has firmly established its place in the

canon of furniture design: a seat and back

shell resting on a self-supporting frame.

Cover of brochure for P.&W. Blattmann, Wädenswil, 1959/60© Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Pro Litteris

Classic of the presentThe Landi Chair occupies an important place

in twentieth-century design history. The chair

not only articulates a Swiss design philoso-

phy characterised by reduction, functionality

and precision. It also stands at the interface

of classic modernism and organic forms of

mid-century design. Despite its pioneering

achievements, the Landi Chair still remains

an insider tip beyond Switzerland's borders.

Although represented in leading design

collections worldwide and cherished by many

designers and architects, it is lesser known

among the broader public than the cheap

imitations with perforated plastic shells,

which have proliferated in gardens and

terraces since the 1960s.

Seventy-five years after the Swiss National

Exhibition in Zurich, new manufacturing

methods have now made it possible to resume

production in the original spirit and at

a reasonable cost. Working together with

Henriette Coray, Vitra has taken the

Landi Chair back to the original shell form

and detailing while simultaneously adapting

it to today's standards.

Cover of brochure for P.&W. Blattmann, Wädenswil, 1959/60© Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich, Pro Litteris

Swiss National Exhibition, 1939© KEyStoNE

Zurich 1939In the late 1930s, Switzerland was a country

surrounded by fascist regimes and a culture

that felt threatened in its very existence.

As a cosmopolitan city where many interna-

tional artists and literary figures had taken

refuge, Zurich was selected as the venue for

the 1939 Swiss National Exhibition (Schweiz-

erische Landesausstellung). This major public

event extending over several months – soon

nicknamed 'Landi' – staged a presentation

of Swiss culture and history, which was meant

to strengthen the national identity and

demonstrate its defensive preparedness. At

the same time, it showcased Switzerland as

a technologically innovative and socially

modern country and deliberately countered

the contemporary zeitgeist of gigantism with

architecture on a human scale.

Swiss National Exhibition, 1939© Hans Peter Klauser, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Pro Litteris


The exhibition concept aimed at providing

visitors with a wide range of educational and

emotional experiences. The expansive grounds

on both sides of Lake Zurich provided the

setting for exhibitions on traditions, folk art

and agriculture as well as pavilions on the

chemical industry or aluminium and power

production or amusements such as boat rides

along an artificial stream.

A total of 1500 Landi Chairs were distributed

in the public areas along the shore of the lake

and between the individual pavilions, pro-

viding weary exhibition-goers with a place to

sit and rest. The modern chairs were instantly

popular, described in contemporary com-

mentaries as charming, light and cheerful,

plain and simple but also lively and dynamic.

Their comfortable seat shells and excep-

tional lightness were a hit with the crowds.

'The subtly gleaming silver chairs can be car-

ried wherever our desire leads us, as easily

as a newspaper or a book. ' – according to a

newspaper account from the time.

Hans Coray's description of how the Landi Chair came about, 10 June 1984© Coray

Hans Coray© Roland Benzby Max Bill. He also knew the Bauhaus

student Hans Fischli, who was an assistant

to the head architect of the exhibition.

Leading up to the event, Coray was commis-

sioned by a Zurich graphic design firm to

create individual design elements for the

aluminium, chemistry and electricity pavil-

ions at the Swiss National Exhibition.

Hans CorayHans Coray (1906-1991) was a humanist with

a diverse range of interests. He completed

a doctorate in Romance languages, experi-

mented with metal and wire as an autodidact

and developed furniture designs and pro-

ducts before ultimately concentrating on the

fine arts. The Zurich resident was active in

the artistic circles affiliated with the Dada

movement and the Zurich Concretes headed

Drawing by Hans Coray© Coray

Hans Coray's description of how the Landi Chair came about, 10 June 1984© Coray

Hans Coray© Roland Benz

In 1938, Hans Fischli asked him to develop

models for the official chair of the exhibition

with the instruction that it 'be new in every

respect'. Within a short time, Hans Coray

came up with two prototypes, guided by the

goal of designing 'a chair made entirely of

aluminium for vertical stacking'. He wanted

to create a lightweight and graceful chair

that combined an inviting appearance with

outstanding comfort.

As the first of Coray's seating designs to enter

production, the Landi Chair became a mile-

stone in design. Alongside his work as an

exhibition stand designer, Hans Coray contin-

ued to create furniture into the 1950s. In the

later years of his life, he increasingly turned

his attention to painting and sculpture.

' If one could distill Coray's sensitivity to

form, the expert craftsmanship and technical

know-how, the curiosity about the already

existent, the emergent and the not yet exist-

ing, the fundamentally humanistic outlook

and the quiet sly humour, then we would have

the essence of the perfect designer, the kind

we need today more than ever. '

(The art historian Willy Rotzler for the

exhibition 'Hans Coray'. 1986)

Willi Fehlbaum, Charles Eames and the Landi Chair outside the Eames House© Eames office LLC

Landi Chair and Vitra'A photo from the late 1950s shows my

father with Charles Eames. In the background:

the Landi Chair.

The Landi Chair has long been an important

point of reference for me. Anyone who collects

and produces chairs as I do enjoys putting

together their dream collection. Hans Coray's

Landi Chair is certainly a part of mine. An

additional factor is that this important design

comes from Switzerland and represents some-

thing eminently Swiss. Almost thirty years

ago, in late 1985, I sat down with Hans Coray,

his wife Henriette and our head of devel-

opment. We discussed how the chair could

be better produced. But we realised that the

project could not be successfully pursued

Rolf Fehlbaum with the Landi Chair, 2014

Willi Fehlbaum, Charles Eames and the Landi Chair outside the Eames House© Eames office LLC

under the circumstances at the time. This has

now changed. Today we have the techno-

logy to produce the chair in a way that meets

our exacting requirements. And we can do

so at a reasonable price, for instance,

because we are able to employ robots for

certain work steps. For Vitra, the Landi Chair

is also a witness to a past era standing

for values we admire. It perfectly exemplifies

the spirit of modernism and its call for

a new beginning, yet remains a vital role

model for the present.'

(Rolf Fehlbaum)

Eames HouseFollowing the Swiss National Exhibition,

Coray's design was not manufactured again

until 1952 when production resumed on

a small scale. Outside Switzerland, the Landi

Chair was primarily known among design

enthusiasts and experts. Nevertheless, its re-

putation and impact carried over to the

United States. Charles and Ray Eames knew

of the Landi Chair and appreciated its

innovative characteristics. It stood in the

garden of their home in Pacific Palisades.

Charles & Ray Eames with Isamu Kenmochi on the terrace of the Eames HouseCourtesy of the Matsudo City Board of Education, Chiba Prefecture Japan

the Landi Chair in the Eames House© Eames office LLC

< Landi Chair on the Eames House lawn© Eames office LLC

While the Californian designers furnished the

interior of the Case Study House with their own

designs, there was no better solution for the

exterior than the weatherproof Landi Chair.

In the late 1940s, Charles and Ray Eames

began to experiment with plastics, culminat-

ing in the introduction of the Eames Fiber-

glass Chairs in 1950. This series perfected

a design idea that had also preoccupied

Hans Coray: that of an industrially manu-

factured, three-dimensionally moulded

seat shell resting on a self-supporting base.

The Eames Fiberglass Chair thus established

the new typology of the plastic shell chair.

Hans Coray's design of the Landi Chair can

be seen as an important predecessor of this

significant chair type, which continues to be

produced today in all manner of variations.


' Certainly not the first

chair to be machine made,

but to this day one of the

most impressive examples of

what industry can do to

material. The round holes

are punched through with a

radiused edge, lending a

certain softness to what

would otherwise be a rather

crude solution for a seat.

The holes not only allow rain

water to drain, but also

give extra rigidity to the

shell, providing an element

of transparency which

emphasises the extreme light-

ness of the chair and

enriches the plainness of

the sheet material surface. '

(Jasper Morrison)

Lightweight silverIn the late nineteenth century, the light weight

and gleaming polished surface of aluminium,

the metal of the future, earned it the name

'the lightweight silver '. At the time, it was

used for decorative objects and household

articles and held special significance for

Switzerland. As a country with few mineral

resources, Switzerland readily adopted

aluminium as 'its metal', as it could be pro-

duced primarily from domestic power sources

generated in numerous hydroelectric plants

and required only small amounts of imported

bauxite ore. Europe's first aluminium factory

opened its doors in Schaffhausen am Rhein

in 1888 and soon aluminium manufacturers

and processors in Switzerland were operating

at the forefront of technology. In the early

1930s, the country was one of the world's big-

gest exporters of aluminium, with the material

Aluminium, the Swiss metal of the nineteenth century

playing an important role in shaping the

country's image and identity.

Aluminium was used at the time as a light-

weight metal in the building of aircraft

and automobiles and had been discovered

as a façade material in architecture.

Furniture also began to be produced with

aluminium components. Depending on

the hardness of the alloy, the material could

be cast, drawn into profiles or rolled into

sheets and offered a wide range of options

for mechanical processing and surface

finishing. As a new industrial material, alu-

minium was a source of great fascination

for many designers and engineers. With his

design of the Landi Chair, the first aluminium

chair with a continuous seat shell, Hans Coray

put forth a further symbol of the importance

of aluminium and Swiss modernity.

Davy Table Design: Michel Charlot, 2014

The young Swiss designer Michel Charlot has

developed a table to go with the Landi Chair.

His design takes up the same material as the

classic chair and mirrors its companion in

terms of material efficiency, functionality and

elegance. Thanks to its anodised surfaces, the

robust Davy Table is suited for use in outdoor

areas. It complements the Landi Chair and

embraces its vocabulary of functional forms.

The punched hole in the sheet aluminium

table top refers to the characteristic 91 holes

of the chair and simultaneously serves to

accommodate a parasol. The table's base

made of aluminium tubing ensures stability

while also lightening the overall weight.

Michel Charlot

Like the Landi Chair, the Davy Table also has

four legs and can be stacked. The two make

a striking pair but can also be used in combi-

nation with other chairs or tables. Charlot

chose the table's name in homage to the

English chemist Sir Humphry Davy, who in

1808 was the first to identify and attempt

to isolate the metal aluminium.

'Most of the time, design is part of an

evolution. Dramatic changes and improve-

ments generally happen with the use of

new materials, like aluminium. The question

was how to design an aluminium table

that can stand nicely next to the Landi Chair

but also next to many other chairs. '

(Michel Charlot)

TechnicaldetailsSeat shell: pressed aluminium sheeting with

91 punched holes, matte anodised surface.

Base: armrests and legs from bent aluminium

profiles, with welded aluminium cross braces,

matte anodised surface.

Glides: light grey injection-moulded TPE.

Applications: suitable for outdoor use.

Note: as in the original design, the Landi can

be stacked up to 6 units high. Vitra's re-edition

of the classic stays true to the original while

making the most of the latest technical possi-

bilities. The anodised aluminium surface of

the chair is durable and weather-resistant but

may develop signs of wear and tear if the

chairs are stacked.

515 20¼”

515 20¼”

405 16”

65

0 25½

”

47

5 18¾”

650 25½”

79

5 31¼”

58

5 23”

515 20¼”

515 20¼”

405 16”

65

0 25½

”

47

5 18¾”

650 25½”

79

5 31¼”

58

5 23”

ma

x.

6

Sandoz Basel. Work break on the roof of the packaging facility, 1961© Novartis Production notes

Concept & art direction

Mé | Mesmer Société

Photography

Véronique Hoegger

Marc Eggimann

Florian Böhm

Markus Frietsch

Lithography

GZD Media GmbH

Printing and production

DesignPress GmbH

2014, article no. 09164802

Vitra

Charles-Eames-Str. 2

D-79576 Weil am Rhein

+49 (0)7621 702 3500

[email protected]

www.vitra.com

www.vitra.com/landi

landi chair - kada brochure.pdf · father with charles eames. in the background: the landi chair....

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