Silver

project
1989
production
1989
manufacturer
De Padova
description
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Silver is a spin-off of Chair 811, designed in wood by Marcel Breuer for Thonet in 1925; in this case, the wood is replaced by an arc-welded aluminium tube fitted with a square-hole patterned polypropylene sheet ("as I saw them in the egg baskets in markets in Tokyo") for the seat and back. The chair, whose construction technology makes it suitable for mass production, generated a full-fledge seating system that includes a beam-mounted version and versions finished for outdoor use. Conceived to be used in the household but also in the office and for the contract sector, the Silver family not only features structural differences (with or without armrests or wheels) but also a range of aesthetic variations (glossy, painted or glazed brushed aluminium) with the backrest and seat in different colours. One version can be expanded with up to six units. One of the options envisages the possibility of attaching a cotton polyurethane foam cushion to the seat by means of pressure-screwed buttons. A few years later, from the morphological point of view, the Silver design would be re-edited with the family of Maui chairs.

technical data

Aluminium, polypropylene. Glossy or glazed anodized aluminium (frame); dove-grey, white, grey, blue, orange, black (seat)

MEASUREMENTS
cm. 80 x 51,5 x 44
OTHER MEASUREMENT=

Silver with armrests: 61 x 47 x 80 cm H

Silver with swivelling casters: without armrests 51x51x80-86; with armrests 61x51x80-86

Silver beam-mounted: 45 or 60 cm (armrests) x 50 x 78 H; width of the beam113; length 186/246/306 or 162/216/270

bibliography

G. Gramigna, Ritratti di sedia, in Area 1, marzo 1990

C. Bellini, Vico Magistretti. Il mestiere di architetto, in Office Furniture, supplemento Habitat Ufficio n.43 43, aprile 1990

M. Romanelli, A Tokyo, design italiano in mostra, in Domus 717, giugno 1990

C. Marinato, La sedia secondo Vico Magistretti, in L'Etichetta 27, 1990

Moblernes Magiske Maestro, in Alt, 1991

E. Bitossi, Vico Magistretti, architetto e designer, in OFX 6, aprile 1992

G. Chigiotti, La regola e l'eccezione, in Area 11, settembre 1992

F. Raggi, Designing as Robinson Crusoe, in Flare, maggio 1993

V. Pasca, Vico Magistretti: la ricostruzione della razionalità, in Interni 445, novembre 1994

R. Imwinkelried, Vico Magistretti Eleganz als Logik, in Heim 12/1, gennaio 1996

L. Coz, Magistretti design, in Casamica 9, settembre 2001

Bon chic bon genre, in Abitare 299, settembre 1991

[senza titolo, in inglese], in Fair Facts 3, ottobre 1989

Silver, in MD 1, gennaio 1990

[senza titolo], in Area 1, marzo 1990

Les chaises, in Intramuros 64, aprile 1996

[senza titolo, in francese], in Intramuros 70, agosto 1995

F. Irace, V. Pasca, Vico Magistretti architetto e designer, Milano, Electa 1999, pp./nn. 154-155

P. Proverbio, Vico Magistretti. I protagonisti del Design, Milano, Hachette 2011, pp./nn. 36,37

AAVV, Vico Magistretti. Intuizioni concettuali tra modernità e tradizione, Milano, RCS 2016, Lezioni di Architettura e Design

Domus 1990, 714

Domus 1991, 730

B. Finessi, Vico Magistretti, Mantova, Corraini 2003, pp./nn. 92,93

M. T. Feraboli, Vico Magistretti, I maestri del Design, Milano, Il Sole 24 Ore 2011, pp./nn. 88-91

V. Pasca, Vico Magistretti. L'eleganza della ragione, Milano, Idea Books 1991, pp./nn. 110

project profile by Ali Filippini