HYLAND
room is a stiletto-legged icon; it picks up where Gio
Ponti's Superleggera Chair of 1965 left off. This visual
acknowledgment and innovative reinterpretation
of modern classics is a hallmark of Italian design,
which I would argue derives much of its aeronautic
verve—the sense that a piece of furniture is about to
take flight—from the Futurists of about 1913, Balla,
Boccioni and Sant'Elia, whose
exaltation of speed and lightness
fuelled an entire artistic and design
movement. The Bellini chair is spare
elegance infinitely reproducible, just
as the Bauhaus foresaw.
Infinite reproduction of another
hue, six vivid ones to be exact, by
the two brothers Ronan & Erwan
Bouroullec, is the 2008 'Vegetal
Chair' for Vitra, which like the Bellini
chair can be stacked. Made from
100% recyclable polyamide, the
botanically-inspired 'Vegetal' transcends its humble
plastic composition—actually a feat of injection
molding--with flat, branch-like ribs asymmetrically
intertwined on three levels to form the seat shell,
shaped, in turn, as an irregular circle, supported by
four legs that sprout, in sprightly fashion, from the
ground. The Bourollecs design a full array of furniture
and objects, including domestic and office furniture,
vases, porcelain dishware, diverse home accessories
ICFF 1999, Heller's Bellini Chair
