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{{Short description|Chair design by Eero Aarnio}}
{{for|a ball to sit on|exercise ball}}
{{for|a ball to sit on|exercise ball}}
{{lead extra info|date=October 2022|reason=MP3 player, classic design, etc. not in body}}
{{Infobox furniture
|name = Ball Chair
⚫
|image = Ngv design, eero aarnio, globe chair 1963-65 01.JPG
|caption = Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair
|designer = [[Eero Aarnio]]
|date = 1963
|made in = Finland
⚫
|materials = [[Polymethyl methacrylate|Acrylic]] frame. Steel swivel pedestal. Fabric or leather inner.
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|style = [[Modernism|Modernist]]
|height = {{convert|47.25|in|cm|abbr=on}}
|width = {{convert|41.25|in|cm|abbr=on}}
|depth = {{convert|38.2|in|cm|abbr=on}}
⚫
}}


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The '''Ball Chair''' was designed by Finnish furniture designer [[Eero Aarnio]] in 1963.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eeroaarnio.com/products/chairs/ball-chair/|title=Ball Chair|date=October 14, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Habegger | first = Jerryll | title = Sourcebook of Modern Furniture | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company | year = 2005 | location = New York, New York | isbn = 0-393-73170-7| edition = Third }}</ref> The Ball Chair is also known as the globe chair and is famous for its unconventional shape. It is considered a classic of [[industrial design]]. More recent versions have increased the overall size and added features including music speakers and [[Digital audio player|MP3 player]] integration.
{| class="infobox" cellpadding="4" style="width: 240px"
|-
| colspan="2" style="margin-left: inherit;background:#f0f0ff; font-size: 1.5em; text-align:center" | '''Ball Chair'''
|-
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|[[Designer]] : [[Eero Aarnio]]
|-
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|Date : 1963
|-
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|[[Country]] : [[Finland]]
|-
⚫
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|Materials : [[Polymethyl methacrylate|Acrylic]] frame. Steel swivel pedestal. Fabric or leather inner.
|-
⚫
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|Style/Tradition : [[Modernism|Modernist]]
|-
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|Dimensions: (41 1/4"Wx38 1/5"Dx47 1/4"Hx 18"SH)
|-
|bgcolor=#f0f0ff|Colours : originally red, (now variable)
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|}


== History ==
⚫
[[File:Ngv design, eero aarnio, globe chair 1963-65 01.JPG|thumb|Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair]]
According to the chair's designer, [[Eero Aarnio]]:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aarnio |first=Eero |date=March 30, 2016 |title=Kingscliff Design |url=https://2016kingscliffgreendesign.wordpress.com/2016/03/30/the-ball-chair-eero-arnio/}}</ref>{{cquote|The idea of the chair was very obvious. We had moved to our first home and I had started my free-lance career in 1962.
⚫
The '''Ball Chair''' was designed by Finnish furniture designer [[Eero Aarnio]] in 1963.<ref>[http://www.eeroaarnio.com/ballframes/index.htm Ball Chair on the official Aarnio website]</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Habegger | first = Jerryll | title = Sourcebook of Modern Furniture (Third Edition) | publisher = W.W. Norton & Company | year = 2005 | location = New York, New York | isbn = 0-393-73170-7}}</ref> The Ball Chair is also known as the globe chair and is famous for its unconventional shape. It is considered a classic of [[industrial design]]. More recent versions have increased the overall size and added interesting features including music and [[Digital audio player|MP3 player]] integration.


We had a home but no proper big chair, so I decided to make one, but some way a really new one.
{{cquote|The idea of the chair was very obvious. We had moved to our first home and I had started my free-lance career in 1962.

We had a home but no proper big chair, so I decided to make one, but some way a really new one. After some drawing I noticed that the shape of the chair had become so simple that it was merely a ball. I pinned the full scale drawing on the wall and sat in the chair to see how my head would move when sitting inside it. Being the taller one of us I sat in the chair and my wife drew the course of my head on the wall. This is how I determined the height of the chair. Since I aimed at a ball shape, the other lines were easy to draw, just remembering that the chair would have to fit through a doorway.
After some drawing I noticed that the shape of the chair had become so simple that it was merely a ball. I pinned the full scale drawing on the wall and sat in the chair to see how my head would move when sitting inside it. Being the taller one of us I sat in the chair and my wife drew the course of my head on the wall. This is how I determined the height of the chair. Since I aimed at a ball shape, the other lines were easy to draw, just remembering that the chair would have to fit through a doorway.


After this I made the first prototype myself using an inside mould, which has been made using the same principle as a glider fuselage or wing. I covered the plywood body mould with wet paper and laminated the surface with fiberglass, rubbed down the outside, removed the mould from inside, had it upholstered and added the leg. In the end I installed the red telephone on the inside wall of the chair. The naming part of the chair was easy, the BALL CHAIR was born.|author=Eero Aarnio}}
After this I made the first prototype myself using an inside mould, which has been made using the same principle as a glider fuselage or wing. I covered the plywood body mould with wet paper and laminated the surface with fiberglass, rubbed down the outside, removed the mould from inside, had it upholstered and added the leg. In the end I installed the red telephone on the inside wall of the chair. The naming part of the chair was easy, the BALL CHAIR was born.|author=Eero Aarnio}}

__NOTOC__
== In popular culture ==
== In popular culture ==
The ball chair is often used in [[film]]s to evoke the futuristic ''[[Mod (subculture)|Mod]]'' style of the [[1960s]], or to suggest the [[villain]]y of a person who sits shadowed within its depths. Examples include:
The ball chair has been used in [[film]]s to evoke the futuristic style of the 1960s, or to suggest the [[villain]]y of a person who sits shadowed within its depths. Examples include:
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' (1967)
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' (1967)
* ''[[Moon Zero Two]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Tommy (1975 film)|Tommy]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Dazed and Confused (film)|Dazed and Confused]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Mars Attacks!]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Mars Attacks!]]'' (1996)
* ''[[Men in Black (1997 film)|Men in Black]]'' (1997)
The ball chair also appear on the cover of the fourth volume of the manga ''[[Spy × Family]]'', with Bond, the [[Pyrenean Mountain Dog]] owned by the main characters sitting on it.

[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]] (1971) featured a scene with an egg shaped sort of ball chair futon.

For the cover of American singer [[Jennette McCurdy]]'s [[Jennette McCurdy (album)|self titled debut album]], she is pictured in a pink ball chair.


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 37: Line 45:
* [[Bubble Chair]]
* [[Bubble Chair]]
* [[Ovalia Egg Chair]]
* [[Ovalia Egg Chair]]

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== External links ==
⚫
* [http://www.eeroaarnio.com/ Official Aarnio website]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

⚫
== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
⚫
* [https://eeroaarnio.com/ Official Aarnio website]
* [https://www.aarniooriginals.com/ Eero Aarnio Originals website]
* [https://filmandfurniture.com/2014/11/ball-chair/#:~:text=The%20Ball%20Chair%20by%20Eero%20Aarnio%20designed%20in%201963%20is,(1996). When furniture takes the starring role: The Ball Chair by Eero Aarnio]


[[Category:Chairs]]
[[Category:Chairs]]
[[Category:Finnish inventions]]
[[Category:Finnish inventions]]
[[Category:Individual models of furniture]]
[[Category:Finnish furniture]]
[[Category:Products introduced in 1963]]

Latest revision as of 14:22, 14 November 2024

For a ball to sit on, see exercise ball.
Ball Chair
Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair
DesignerEero Aarnio
Date1963
Made inFinland
MaterialsAcrylic frame. Steel swivel pedestal. Fabric or leather inner.
Style / traditionModernist
Height47.25 in (120.0 cm)
Width41.25 in (104.8 cm)
Depth38.2 in (97 cm)

The Ball Chair was designed by Finnish furniture designer Eero Aarnio in 1963.[1][2] The Ball Chair is also known as the globe chair and is famous for its unconventional shape. It is considered a classic of industrial design. More recent versions have increased the overall size and added features including music speakers and MP3 player integration.

History

[edit]

According to the chair's designer, Eero Aarnio:[3]

The idea of the chair was very obvious. We had moved to our first home and I had started my free-lance career in 1962.

We had a home but no proper big chair, so I decided to make one, but some way a really new one.

After some drawing I noticed that the shape of the chair had become so simple that it was merely a ball. I pinned the full scale drawing on the wall and sat in the chair to see how my head would move when sitting inside it. Being the taller one of us I sat in the chair and my wife drew the course of my head on the wall. This is how I determined the height of the chair. Since I aimed at a ball shape, the other lines were easy to draw, just remembering that the chair would have to fit through a doorway.

After this I made the first prototype myself using an inside mould, which has been made using the same principle as a glider fuselage or wing. I covered the plywood body mould with wet paper and laminated the surface with fiberglass, rubbed down the outside, removed the mould from inside, had it upholstered and added the leg. In the end I installed the red telephone on the inside wall of the chair. The naming part of the chair was easy, the BALL CHAIR was born.

— Eero Aarnio
[edit]

The ball chair has been used in films to evoke the futuristic style of the 1960s, or to suggest the villainy of a person who sits shadowed within its depths. Examples include:

The ball chair also appear on the cover of the fourth volume of the manga Spy × Family, with Bond, the Pyrenean Mountain Dog owned by the main characters sitting on it.

A Clockwork Orange (1971) featured a scene with an egg shaped sort of ball chair futon.

For the cover of American singer Jennette McCurdy's self titled debut album, she is pictured in a pink ball chair.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ball Chair". October 14, 2015.
  2. ^ Habegger, Jerryll (2005). Sourcebook of Modern Furniture (Third ed.). New York, New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-73170-7.
  3. ^ Aarnio, Eero (March 30, 2016). "Kingscliff Design".
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Globe chairs.
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