Emilio Chinarro Matas

EMILIO CHINARRO MATAS (Madrid, 1930-2004).
Safari type armchair.
Wood and leather.

This Safari chair is distinguished by its functional, light and removable design. For its design, Emilio Chinarro was inspired by Kaare Klint's Safari Chair (1933), which in turn is based on the equipment used by British military officers and explorers on African expeditions in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Graduated in 1959 from the Madrid School of Architecture, where he would later become a professor of projects, Emilio Chinarro Matas consolidated a career marked by the dialogue between modernity and tradition. His key works of the sixties, such as the Chinarro house in La Florida and the townhouses in El Plantío, reflect an assimilation of the organic currents of Wright and Aalto, sifted by a deep respect for local popular architecture. These pieces stand out for their constructive rigor, impeccable functional distribution and masterful integration of outdoor spaces into domestic life. Also noteworthy is his work in the institutional field with the school-residence in Hortaleza, now the Princess Sofia Special Education Center, which shows his design versatility a decade later.