I recently read a story about a chair. It caught my eye for a couple of reasons.
Its classic mid-century aesthetic was one; the other was the fact that we’re doing a piece on designer chairs for this issue (page 24). I liked it for its thin beech legs and spindle-back design, but what I loved was the story behind the chair’s origins. It’s a story that’s relevant to the world we’re living in – a story about design in adversity.
The Ercol chair – popular among design-minded homeowners in the 1960s and highly collectable now – has its roots in the austerity of post-World War II England. With much of Ercol’s manufacturing capacity taken up by the war effort, the company emerged after 1945 constrained by limited raw-materials supply and construction capabilities. And the simple, minimalist Ercol chair was the result. Like all design, it took what went before – in this case, the centuries-old Windsor chair – and created something fresh. Something sleeker and simpler; something that transformed country craft into minimalism.
VISI 112
VISI 112, the fifth issue of the magazine created remotely, includes features on beautiful homes – getaways both coastal and inland – and inspirational objects from furniture and homeware to jewellery and art. Add it to your collection!
WAS R75 NOW R50
It’s going to be fascinating to see how our current designers respond to these Covid-affected times. We’ve already seen some innovative re-imaginings of home spaces – our page 30 story on home-office pods is an example of that – but I’m really interested to see what kind of design comes out of what is clearly a fundamentally changed global zeitgeist.
Will commercial architecture turn away from high-rise corporate vanity projects? Will homes mirror a need to welcome the outside into the interiors we will now be spending far more time in? Will we see interior design reflect the need to simplify these spaces with a return and reinterpretation of minimalism? And will we see an enduring adoption of local design … and an African story like that of the Ercol chair?
– Steve Smith, Editor
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Not sure where to find the magazine? Here is a list of stockists. You can also buy VISI 112 (as well as VISI 107, VISI 108, VISI 109, VISI 110, or VISI 111) via shop.visi.co.za.
