052 – Flat Iron Chair
Flat Iron Chair
2008
Zinc plated 5mm mild-steel plate
350 x 450 x 780
Produced for Gallery Libby Sellers
Flat Iron Chair is a celebration of construction and of augmentation. The building analogy goes beyond the physical process to the inspiration behind the project — my appreciation of the I-beam, the steel girders designed exclusively for and used by the construction industry. The structure is simple but fantastically efficient. By working through a detailed series of iterative models, material trials and computer visualisations, and simply getting to know steel, my original I-beam literally grew into the sculptural yet highly formal and pragmatic Flat Iron Chair. The 5mm plate mild steel is laser-cut into five simple geometrically precise parts, which can be easily assembled before being permanently TIG welded together. The edges of the steel are de-burred before zinc- plating with a trivalent colour passivate, which gives the object its iridescent rainbow and makes the chair breathe.
With thanks to Isamu Noguchi.