plop plop fizz fizz - champagne chairs

January 19, 2004 7:27 PM

What makes for a great champagne chair? Design Within Reach sponsored a holiday contest to design a chair constructed from the cork and wire cages of champagne bottle. Judges had a difficult time deciding from the 400 entries that poured in. (via Buzz.)
posted by madamjujujive (7 comments total)

What cork-popping fun! It just shows that talent is everything and raw materials, well, 10 por cent at most. Cynthia Shore and Ingrid Jung are my favourites, for reappropriating the reckless 50s abandon that goes so well with champagne (or so I'm told). I also found it significant that the men are significantly less fortunate in their designs. Perhaps they took the raw materials too seriously? Teehee. Thanks once more, Juju!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:37 PM on January 19, 2004

The irony of Design Within Reach is that a $1000 gift certificate will be enough money to cover a magazine rack and shipping. That aside, this is the best crafted and doesn't try to pay homage to trite bauhausian icons.
posted by machaus at 7:39 PM on January 19, 2004

Being into some vague notion of organic integrity, I like the designs that reflect the original shapes of the cork and cage, rather than the ones that just use the materials to construct a miniature version of a familiar chair. My vote goes to Mariflor de la Cruz.
posted by liam at 7:49 PM on January 19, 2004

they're really fun (and Michael Bowen's is my fav)
posted by amberglow at 8:04 PM on January 19, 2004

Once again, a great link that proves the mefi maxim: the number of comments is wholly uncorrelated with the quality and delight provided therein! madamjujujive, thanks for keeping the 'filter wondrous, especially on a day that has been more news-filter-y and tedious than most!
posted by limitedpie at 12:40 AM on January 20, 2004

How adorable! And gorgeous - some of these are just gorgeous. I like the Jeff Frey and the Kirsten Fritsch designs best. Thanks, mjjj! I'm a chair design freak and have to add this to my collection.

Two of my favorite chair links are design boom's Illustrated History of Chairs, and the bubble, ball, and egg chair gallery.
posted by iconomy at 7:58 AM on January 20, 2004

Oooh - the history of the folding chair poster!
posted by iconomy at 5:37 PM on January 20, 2004