Something rather special just happened and I don’t know how many people realise it. The world famous (indeed it is) Bodleian Libraries in Oxford have just announced the winner of the chair competition to design a new chair for readers to use in the library.
Of course, on its own that doesn’t light many fires but when put in context that this is the third such commission by the library with the first being the 1756 chair, and then the 1930s redesign by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (architect of Battersea Power Station and designer of the red telephone box), this third chair had a lot to live up to and indeed will go on to be known within the library long after the designers have passed putting their names firmly in the hall of fame of great 21st Century designers.
1756 chair
Who are these designers… well the title of the post is a giveaway as it is none other than Ed Barber and Jay Osgerby, toasts of the town already with their Olympic torch and numerous other commissions. The duo have proved yet again why they deserve such accolade as their design is most certainly fitting of the project and not a hint of a signature style from the designers which would be all too tempting to do but this chair is more than another to add to the collection, it will become an icon in itself with the designers names become a footnote to most who use it.
Image copyright Jamie Smith
Image copyright Jamie Smith
Let me tell you a story about how it all started…in 2012 the University of Oxford’s historic Bodleian Libraries launched a competition inviting designer/manufacturer teams to create a new reading room chair. The competition continues the Bodleian Libraries’ history of commissioning bespoke reader chairs dating back as far as 1756.
After receiving over 60 entries at the first stage, six teams were selected for stage two to develop initial designs that met the requirements of: comfort, practicality, longevity and character. These six designs were then reviewed developing full scale working prototypes which were then tested by readers within a library environment.
The new chair will feature in a number of reading rooms in the Weston Library, formerly known as the New Bodleian Library, which re-opens in 2014 after a three-year remodelling and refurbishment by Wilkinson Eyre Architects. The new Library, originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1930s, will create a high-quality environment for the Libraries’ valuable special collections, expand public access through new exhibition galleries and develop the Libraries’ space for the support of advanced research.
With judges ranging from Sir Kenneth Grange CBE, Professor Martin Roth (Director of The Victoria & Albert Museum), Professor Jeremy Myerson (Director of Design at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design), architecture critic Tom Dyckhoff, Jim Eyre (Director of Wilkinson Eyre Architects) and Richard Ovenden (Interim Bodley’s Librarian at Bodleian Librarie) the expert panel were always going to be a tough set to impress. Collectively, they have seen it all and know everything there is to know about what this chair should do so unveiling the winner was not much surprise to me having seen the competition.
Image copyright Jamie Smith
Image copyright Jamie Smith
The chair had to be comfortable for readers to sit for up to 10 hours a day, avoid scraping sounds on the floor when chairs are moved in and out which might disturb other readers and of course sit within the architecture of these historic buildings.
Barber Osgerby took the approach of a three-legged chair with horseshoe base and arms which perfectly reflect each other yet offer the function needed for each element. By steam-bending the tips of the feet upwards they could make it easier to move in and out of the spaces, just like a sledge might do. This trick was something they learnt on the 2011 Tip Ton chair for Vitra but it is great to see how the idea is used in a completely different way.
The chair is a wonderful piece of furniture that defines our time yet continues a line of succession incredibly well, which I am sure will be well received and used for many years. It will be available to buy from the Bodleian Library shop in due course just as the original 1756 chair is.
Designer: BarberOsgerby
Manufacturer: Isokon Plus
Year: 2013
Price: £TBC
lovely post Daniel, so carefully researched and written
Thank you Barbara, very sweet of you to say. I have to admit, I had the inside track on it from the start 🙂