Eero Aarnio, Ball Chair for Adelta

EERO AARNIO (Helsinki, Finland, 1932) for ADELTA.
Ball Chair, design 1963.
Upholstered in red fabric, with loose red fabric cushions.
Made of fiberglass with an aluminum swivel base.
With minor marks and patina.
Made by Adelta, with label on the base.
Measurements: 88 x 70 x 68 cm, seat height 45.

The Ball Chair adopts in our case a timeless white color on the outside and a deep red color on the inside, thus becoming a true vintage jewel. This iconic chair, designed by the renowned Finnish designer, has a distinctive round shape inspired by the Space Age style, the name given to the period when the space race was launched, starting in 1957 with the launch of Sputnik. This fever to conquer space also reached design, and during the sixties and seventies a decoration model was developed based on an idyllic vision of the future, and on everything to do with spaceships, new technologies and innovative materials. It was presented to the world at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne in 1966.

Eero Aarnio was, and still is, one of the pioneers in the use of fiberglass in the design industry. It is a material that allows you to freely create any shape and use the colors you want, resulting in objects that oscillate between function and fun, but always fascinating. Aarnio studied at the Helsinki University of Art and Design (now Aalto University) between 1954 and 1957. In 1962 he set up his own studio, starting his career as an interior and furniture designer, as well as working as a photographer. His early designs had a traditional aesthetic, using local materials such as wicker. However, in the sixties he began his studies with fiberglass, exploring the formal possibilities of this material. In 1962 he created the "Mushroom" stools, and the following year the "Ball Chair", an icon of the pop era with which he won the prestigious ADI award in 1968. His daring and iconoclastic solutions would be embodied in 1968 in the novel "Bubble Chair", a chair that hangs from the ceiling. This innovative design went beyond pop, approaching "spatial" forms and concepts, and using such a novel material as Plexiglas. Color, on the other hand, began to be a prominent element in his production: red, orange or green tones were an indissoluble part of the provocative scenario that constitutes each of his works. At the end of the sixties he would create other chairs, with a clear organic influence, such as the "Pastil Chair", from 1967, a fiberglass chair that can also be used in water, and which won him the American Industrial Design Award. In 1973, taking advantage of the appeal of his designs and especially their colors, he created the "Pony Chair", an exclusive creation for children. Aarnio's production stopped until the 1990s, when he created designs such as the "Formula Chair" (1998) or the "Focus 2" (2002), made of fiberglass. Today, Aarnio's designs are included in the permanent collections of the most prestigious museums, including the Victoria & Albert in London, the MoMA in New York and the Vitra Museum in Weil am Rhein.