[P] Do you know the famous “tulip” chair?

It appeared in the fifties in New York and, as the name suggests, the designer was inspired by the shape of a tulip. The timeless tulip chair created by Eero Saarinen fits perfectly both at the dining table and in an office, being a classic example of successful industrial design. Find out how it came to be, what makes it special and why it could also fit into your home.

How the tulip chair came to be

Designer Eero Saarinen was born in 1920 and, at the age of twelve, won his first design competition. Then he illustrated a story for a Swedish newspaper, using only matches. His father was a renowned architect and his mother a skilled sculptor and seamstress. So it's no surprise that, as a teenager, Eero was already collaborating with his father on furniture projects. At the time, the family was living in Michigan, as Eero's father was the director of the prestigious Cranbrook Art Academy. Eero then studied in Paris, after which he returned to America and, like his father, taught at Cranbrook. There he befriended the designers Florence Knoll and Charles Eames. In collaboration with the Knoll company, he created the tulip chair in 1956. This became his most famous project and, unfortunately, his last. The designer died in 1961 of complications from a brain tumor.

What makes it special

The tulip chair has several features:

• The construction consists of a single piece, consisting of a solid leg and a seat with a backrest.
• The leg is reminiscent of a stem, and the seat with the backrest resembles an opening flower.
• It originally had a rotating base so it could be easily moved around the room.
• Modern materials such as fiberglass or aluminum have always been used for the chair.
• You can recognize an original by looking at the underside of the seat – it should have the Knoll logo and Eero Saarinen's signature.
• Since its appearance, it was considered futuristic and, thanks to modern materials, received the nickname “Space Age”.

The tulip chair in today's homes

Although it was a futuristic object in its time, its age does not show at all. It is still a timeless and minimalist piece of furniture that is easy to combine. The original can still be bought today, and the structure is made of a mixture of fiberglass, plastic and aluminum. If you feel that the classic one-legged version does not suit you, there are other options: for example, a chair with a tulip-shaped seat and back, but with golden legs. Or a bolder, patchwork, colorful version. Modern chairs often take just one or two elements from iconic designs and adapt them to current needs.

Known from television and from the homes of celebrities

It's no surprise that this futuristic chair has appeared in numerous movies and series over time. Obviously, it could not be missing from Star Trek, where its form perfectly complements the interiors of the distant world of the future, where space travel is part of the human routine. The chair was also featured in the Bond film series, Casino Royaleas well as in TheFabelmansSteven Spielberg's partially autobiographical film. The tulip chair was the favorite of the actress Faye Dunaway, known from the film Chinatown. He had more at home – just like Pablo Picasso. The Spanish painter used to often enjoy, in this chair, a glass of his favorite drink: Rioja red wine.