«Chairs are important historical artefacts. They can represent the fashion and ethos of a particular moment in time or stand for an epochal idea. They are portraits of their users and reflect the production techniques with which they were created. You can recognise and understand an era – its social structures, its materials, techniques and fashions – by its chairs. I would go as far as to say that no other everyday object is so multi-faceted.» says Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra about Vitra’s fascinating film project «Chair Times».
In Heinz Bütler’s film, 125 objects from 1807 to the most recent designs out of the 3D printer from the Collection of the Vitra Design Museum are arranged in the order of their years of production to form a timeline of modern seating furniture design. The objects are commented on by the designer Hella Jongerius, the designers Antonio Citterio and Ronan Bouroullec, the architects and collectors Arthur Rüegg and Ruggero Tropeano, the architect David Chipperfield, the director Emeritus MAK Vienna/Los Angeles Peter Noever, Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum, the curators of the Vitra Design Museum Amelie Klein, Jochen Eisenbrand and the collection curator Serge Mauduit. And as a “guide” on the time travel through the chairs, Rolf Fehlbaum will lead the way.
