The Blogazine

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Mr. Chair / Vin & Mong

Salone Satellite is usually the antidote to the Salone del Mobile’s corporate main event, providing a glimpse at the work of future design greats before it is placed under the pressures of industry and commercialisation. As usual, there were several bright spots, from the impressive Superfarm project to surreal furniture laser-carved from solid blocks of marble, as well as a host of projects dedicated to sustainability and handcraft. But chairs are the lifeblood of Salone, and in this year’s cautious environment our favourite came from Korean design duo Vin & Mong, and just a few weeks after the event, we’re happy to report that the chair will almost certainly see production.

While Fabio Novembre’s surreal inside-a-face “Nemo Chair” for Driade caused quite a stir and Kartell’s huge plastic lineup is the best its been in ages, there was no big-named showstopper this year. No paradigm-challenging design exercises like Vitra’s “Chairless” to wow the crowds.

Vin & Mong’s muscly black chair, however, stopped us in our tracks. Billed Mr. Chair (and not to be confused with Mies Van der Rohe’s iconic MR Chair), it isn’t exactly subtle, but was one of the very few pieces we saw this year to combine generous measures of practicality and genuine imagination, as well as a sense of humour.

The designers’ take on the chair: “During our research of chairs, we found that armchairs and men have a lot in common, Men have arms, skin, and muscles and comparatively, armchairs have arms, leather and cushion. Mr. Chair shows the commonalities with a dignified wit.”

At once a sturdy armchair rendered in buttery soft leather and something to cuddle up with, we appreciate Mr. Chair for its sense of fun – something design has been sorely lacking in these recessionary times. It even captures a fair bit of the late 1970s zeitgeist that’s going around (especially if you hang a gold chain around its “neck”), and definitely provides better photo opportunities than Novembre’s creepy swivelling face.