"It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, ...

as what's on the chairs." ~ William S. Gilbert

I've never met a chair that I didn't like .... well, almost. But you've just got to love the ongoing love affair of designers, and their imaginative creations of new designs. No doubt, we will all never agree on which is the perfect chair, given our range of personal tastes and preferences. As a designer, my dilemma is that there are so many wonderful choices, but ultimately one must evaluate and select based on the usage and function1, setting, scale, and a list of other criteria.

1. (Please note: there is no such word as "functionality"!, except when applied to computers, and it drives me nuts to hear it used by so many designers!)

Never-the-less, it is quite interesting to observe the designs; to understand the designer's motives, inspirations, and influences; and to just appreciate the evolving technologies that make some designs possible. Just when you thought that there could be no possibility of any "new" designs, one will come along and just amaze us with it's ingenuity. Sure, most designs are often fresh takes on the traditional or classics. And sometimes, all it takes is a fabulous fabric or pattern to give a chair a whole new personality. But combine our never ending quest for the "just right" chair and the designer's desire for new expressions, and we will never see the end of the chair's evolution.

The following chairs have recently caught my eye... and I enjoy looking at them, as much as I would a piece of sculpture...

Cyrilla Arm Chair, made from sustainable and eco friendly materials. A simplified version of it's traditional counterparts suitable for a wide range of interior styles.
http://www.purebyamimckay.com/

"PURE was founded in an effort to balance our desire for beautiful furniture and homes, with the need to make better choices for our health and to protect our environment."

http://www.hayonstudio.com/project.php?id=4

An interesting application of leather and plastic, combining elements of traditional styles with a moderne interpretation

abhijeet kumar's Welcome Chair, an interesting shape from aluminum, reminiscent of origami

http://www.behance.net/Gallery/WELCOME-CHAIR/138183

OPINION Chair. Designed by DaeKyung Ahn.

Designer's Description:
"Basically this chair is a transforming chair: Modern to classic, contemporary to historical, minimal to elegant style. We all have individual design tastes for our environment. Some people prefer a particular style which is a simple design language or elegant style, and some others like both styles but they often change their design opinion depending on the place where, the time when, and the people whom with."

VIEW Chair. Designed by DaeKyung Ahn.

Designer's Description:
"Sometimes, in daily life, we interpret and judge people and objects from the most memorable and recognizable point of view, the one we can more easily see. Furthermore, we are fixed to characterise them through that point of view. I believe that everything has got an alternative or different character and specialty. I don't believe that special character is easy to see at a simple glance. But what if we try to see objects from a different point of view? "

Showtime Collection for BD Ediciones de Diseño is a home furniture collection inspired on classical MGM musicals.

Simplicity...

the Pick Chair. Designed by Dror Benshetrit.

"The first foldable cantilever chair, goes from wall art to functional furniture with a flick of the wrist. With an inspiring take on the maximization of space and the transformation of an object from 2D to 3D, it epitomizes Dror Benshetrit's vision: the emotion of art intertwined with the simple poetics of form following function."

For those of you not familiar with DWR (Design Within Reach), it is a store that represents most of the contemporary classics in furniture. Every year right after "new years" they have a champagne chair competition ...save your cork, wire, and foil from those champagne bottles! It is a lot of fun, and you can find their rules here: http://www.dwr.com/display.do?ruleID=101077

The chair below was a design that I submitted three years ago. My daughter, who had broken her foot prior to this and was hopping around on one foot, was my inspiration.

Hmmmmm....I wonder if the designer of the chairs below happened to see my design... probably not, but an odd coincidence!

Surreal Minimalism. Designed by David Pompa Alarcón.

Looking for a little whimsy? I think there is power in numbers and colors here. I can just picture these in a fun boutique hotel somewhere along Venice Beach, Ca.

La Diva Chair. Designed by Jaime Bouzaglo. Manufactured by Andreau World.

Graceful Elegance... Given the right background (such as the one further below), this piece really shows off it's elegant and graceful lines

Orchid Chair. Designed by Sebastian Gronemeyer

http://www.silenceandgrace.com/gl01.html

"the orchid chair ...this lounge chair is part of silence and grace’s first two piece collection, that pays
homage to the great designs of 50’s and 60’s using today's materials and knowledge.
the orchid is a fluent and most important seamless shape, comfortable to sit on and
designed with a love for detail.
the natural contours and it's organic forms inspired by the leaves of an orchid,
smoother the body as you sit down and as you lean back the backrest flexes slightly.
this un-upholstered lounge chair constructed of a one-piece moulded epoxy fiberglass
shell (note: an epoxy and bamboo fiber version is also in development) and is mounted
on a brushed steel base.
the chair comes with a complementary feather duster to keep the lower part of the
chair (which can also be used to store newspapers and magazines) clean and dust free."

"I had three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society"

~ Henry David Thoreau