Rover chair explained

Rover chair
Designer:Ron Arad
Date:1981 (United Kingdom)
Materials:Steel frame, leather car seat
Style:Postmodernist
Sold By:Vitra (Switzerland)
Height:78cm (31inches)
Width:69cm (27inches)
Depth:92cm (36inches)

The Rover chair is the first piece of furniture designed by industrial designer Ron Arad. It was made in 1981 as a fusion of two readymades and launched Arad's career. The chair is a postmodernist design, combining a car seat with a structural tubing frame.

History

Arad had left his employment with a firm of architects,[1] and obtained the parts to make the chair from a scrapyard in Chalk Farm, London.[2] The readymade[3] chair was the first piece of furniture he produced.[4] [5]

The red[6] [7] leather seat is from a Rover P6[8] [9] and is housed in a black[10] painted curved steel frame made from a Kee Klamp milking stall. Later exhibited pieces had epoxy lacquered frames.[11] The frame provides both feet and arm rests.[12]

The Rover P6 is sometimes known as the 2000. Some reports of the chair refer to it being made using seats from the 200,[13] P5[14] or 90.[15]

Furniture maker Joe Hall visited Arad's Covent Garden shop in the and then collaborated with him to make further chairs. Hall scoured the country's scrapyards for P6 seats, which cost £515 each and were in excellent condition.

The chairs sold for £99 each in 1981, about three times the production cost. Original chairs made by Arad's One Off company have been auctioned by Christie's,[16] [17] Bonhams,[18] [19] Bonhams & Butterfield and Göteborgs Auktionsverk.[20] [21] Hundreds have been produced since 1981, fetching thousands of pounds at auctions at the turn of the century.[22] The success of the chair, which has become an icon,[23] launched Arad's career.[24] The chairs were produced by One Off until 1989, and in 2008 were being produced by Vitra in two models. A two-seater version was auctioned in 2011.

Reception

Fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier bought six chairs[2] in 1981. They also attracted the attention of furniture manufacturer Vitra.[11] The chair is recognised as a postmodernist design.[25]

A presenter of BBC Television's Top Gear sat on such a chair from 1988.[2] The chair also featured in a television advertisement for an unrelated product.[26] Arad's own children were breast-fed on the chair.[24]

Exhibitions

The chair has formed part of various exhibitions, including those at London's Design Museum, Barbican Art Gallery, Timothy Taylor Gallery,[27] Paris's Centre Pompidou[28] and New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fountain. John. 'Rover Chair' by Ron Arad. Creativepool Blog. 19 June 2012.
  2. News: Gleadell. Colin. Ron Arad: the designer who redrew the borders. 19 June 2012. The Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2009.
  3. News: Manson. Neil. Chairmaster. 20 June 2012. artnet. 25 May 2005.
  4. Web site: Cohen. Tobi. Design of the times. BMI Voyager. British Midland International. 19 June 2012.
  5. News: Burnett. Kate. Ron Arad. 19 June 2012. idfx. 11 March 2010.
  6. News: Ciuraru. Carmela. Ron Arad: No Discipline at MoMA. 19 June 2012. California Literary Review. 17 August 2009.
  7. Web site: Treggiden. Katie. out and about :: ron arad restless. confessionsofadesigngeek. 19 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120511011418/http://confessionsofadesigngeek.com/2010/04/18/ron-arad-restless-at-the-barbican/. 11 May 2012. dead.
  8. News: Baxter. Andrew. Any old iron. 19 June 2012. The Daily telegraph. 19 May 2001.
  9. News: Browne. Alix. Radical Chic. 19 June 2012. . 19 August 2009.
  10. News: Heathcote. Edwin. Ron Arad at Barbican Art Gallery. 19 June 2012. Financial Times. 27 February 2010.
  11. Web site: Ron Arad: www.c No Discipline. Exhibition trails. Centre Pompidou. 19 June 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120621235338/http://www.centrepompidou.fr/education/ressources/ENS-ronarad-EN/ENS-ronarad-EN.html. 21 June 2012.
  12. Web site: Ron Arad – the art of design. Artprice.com. 19 June 2012. December 2008.
  13. Web site: Ron Arad: 25/25 – Celebrating 25 Years of Design. Design at the Design Museum. Design Museum. 19 June 2012.
  14. Web site: Rover P5 Saloon MkIII. Brightwells. 19 June 2012.
  15. News: Soetriyono. Eddy. Ron Arad's Avant-garde Furniture Movement. 19 June 2012. C-Arts. 18 January 2008.
  16. Web site: SALE 6533 LOT 127 . . 25 May 1994 . May 23, 2012.
  17. Web site: SALE 9098 LOT 322 . . 16 May 2001 . May 23, 2012.
  18. Web site: Ron Arad for One Off Ltd, a 'Rover' chair, designed 1981. Auction 18807. Bonhams. 19 June 2012. 13 April 2011.
  19. Web site: Ron Arad for One Off Ltd. Auction 20166. Bonhams. 19 June 2012. 29 March 2012.
  20. Web site: Göteborgs Auktionsverk, Dags för kvalitetsauktion i Göteborg . hittaauktion.com . 21 November 2011 . May 23, 2012.
  21. Web site: Göteborgs Auktionsverk – Kvalitetsauktion 28 november 2011. Auktionsnummer 37 – Ron Arad . mynewsdesk.com . 16 November 2011 . May 23, 2012.
  22. News: Banks. Tom. Street art bonanza at Phillips de Pury auction. 19 June 2012. Design Week. 8 September 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203015503/http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/street-art-bonanza-at-phillips-de-pury-auction/1139566.article . 2013-12-03.
  23. Web site: Villinger. Carina. Ron Arad – Before and After. designinfo. 19 June 2012.
  24. News: Seno. Alexandra A.. The Future of Industrial Design. 19 June 2012. The Wall Street Journal. 22 January 2010.
  25. Web site: Julius. Corinne. Postmodernism: the -ism with attitude. Homes & Property. 19 June 2012. 19 September 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120317134643/http://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property_news/events_and_getaways/postmodernismtheismwithattitude.html. 17 March 2012.
  26. News: Aldersey-Williams. Hugh. Hugh Aldersey-Williams. Professor of cool. 19 June 2012. New Statesman. 19 June 2000.
  27. Web site: Ron Arad. Timothy Taylor Gallery. Timothy Taylor Gallery. 19 June 2012.
  28. Web site: Piettre. Céline. Ron Arad Critique – No Discipline – Paris 4e. Centre Pompidou. parisART. 19 June 2012.

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