The Finnish interior designer of the Hanging Bubble Chair has a meaningful story behind it that is unique and highlights how a futuristic look can become timeless.
In this article, you’ll find out why the bubble chair can always add a touch of tomorrow to any decor and why you should add it to your modern home.
About The Designer
The designer of the Ball Chair is an innovator of mid-century modern furniture design who has influenced the lives of so many from his home studio with two striking designs: The Ball Chairs and The Bubble Chairs. So how did these world-famous designs come to be?
The artist was born in 1932 in Finland, meaning that the young designer-to-be spent his childhood in a country deeply affected by the second world war. He grew during a rapid post-war technological progression in a culture ready to pioneer design for the masses.
This culture of pioneering design spawned the minimal, wood-focused Nordic modern furniture that has become so popular in recent years thanks to its low cost, quick production and achingly beautiful aesthetic.
However, the creative broke away from the styles that surrounded him, not out of rebellion, but out of the joys of design. As an individual who always looks forward, never backwards, he was interested in the new wave of technologies and materials under development.
In the early 1960s, he began experimenting with bright colours, geometric shapes, and plastic and fibreglass materials. By 1966 his first solo project using these materials was unveiled at the International Design Fair in Cologne. It was a design that had taken years to develop, with the prototype handmade over a year by him and his brother.
The designer wanted a chair that could fit himself, his wife and their two children in all at once, but also a chair that could give the user an area of personal space, even in a busy room. Above all, however, the chair must be high quality, as “quality will last”, he said. A quality design is an investment that can be passed down through generations.
The First Design: The Iconic Ball Chair
The Ball Chair was an instant hit which adorned the homes of celebrities across the globe and became a staple on TV shows and in films.
It stood as a stark contrast to Nordic design’s appearance and was incredibly comfortable to sit in. The chair was, in fact, the first ever to be produced in fibreglass and the first ever to use the “perfect shape” – a sphere. The New York Times described the chair’s shape as “one of the most comfortable forms to hold the human body”. This ideal piece was created for a rapidly changing world and the emergence of pop culture.
However, the designer never intended for his piece to become a symbol of 60’s pop culture, nor did he intend for the phrase “space aged” to be so closely associated. His ethos is always to create functional furniture produced from methods cheap enough for anyone to own. It just so happens that a chair this practical and comfortable would use a shape associated with space travel (Sputnik, of course!).
One is easily forgiven for relating his designs with this phrase, though. Sixty years on and the Ball Chair is still a piece in high demand by interior designers, homeowners and children worldwide. If that wasn’t a futuristic design, then we don’t know what is!
The reproduction at Pash Classics uses similar build techniques to the creator’s original designs and makes use of his favourite material with a glossy fibreglass shell seated on a swivel base, meaning that this design really can be owned by anyone.
The Iconic Bubble Chair
One of the themes of mid-century design is that its objects are often made to appear almost weightless. For example, just witness how the ground floors of buildings are made of almost open space or walls that are just seemingly continuous sheets of glass. It looks a little like magic.
The great news – the Ball Chair wasn’t the end of the designer’s influence as two years later, he developed the iconic Bubble Chair, realising that the Ball Chair could be dark inside when reading. He understood that, although this gave the chair its desired effect of creating a room within a room, not everyone wanted to be so enclosed. He had two options: add a light or create the chair from transparent materials.
He said: “After I had made the Ball Chair, I wanted to have the light inside it, and so I had the idea of a transparent ball where light comes from all directions.”
The designer’s solution was an acrylic ball lined with cushions, which is both comfortable and a spectacular addition to any living or office space. On its unveiling, the Bubble Chairs were immediately recognised as design icons and have since become a visual shorthand for 1960s chic.
We’re sure you agree with us when we say we’re glad he chose to pioneer another new material, as this time, transparent acrylic plastic was the favourite. In 1968, the Bubble Chair was released with the same intentions and to equal acclaim as its predecessor. This design features a hanging chain which allows the chair to be suspended from the ceiling or a chrome-plated stand.
Even more, one thing about the Bubble Chair that is not immediately apparent until you sit inside is how you’re isolated from the sounds of the outside world. It is a true cocoon with a 360-degree view!
Like the Ball Chair, the Bubble Hanging Chair came with all of pop culture’s love and was featured in everything, from celebrity photoshoots to Playboy and the world’s most influential design magazines.
For those looking to own a piece of design history, the Pash Classics reproduction of the iconic Hanging Bubble Chair remains faithful to the original design. We guarantee these delightful chairs will brighten up your interior, both through their fun use of materials and also thanks to the way they allow natural light to pass right through them!
Final Thoughts
The Finnish designer continues to create at his home studio in Finland to this day, with the same influences as ever: always looking towards the future and living out his inner child through designs that are fun to look at, use and own.
If you want to learn more about the world of modern furniture and all things interior design, check out our articles on:
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- Your Guide To The Iconic Mid-Century Dining Chair Replica
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