When Finnish designer Eero Aarnio created the Ball Chair in 1963, he had no idea it would propel him to international fame. But the planet-shaped lounge chair opened a whole universe when it was exhibited at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 1966 (now IMM Cologne).

The fiberglass sphere object landed in the collections of many international design museums. It also shot through the popular imagination, flickering onto magazine covers and movie sets like a bright comet.

Among its many appearances on the big screen, Ball Chair inhabits the fantastic universes of Moon Zero Two (1967), Tommy (1975), Mars Attacks! (1996), and Men in Black (1997). Despite the aliens and villains who reign supreme from within the galaxy of the Ball Chair, Aarnio developed the chair for a practical reason: he wanted a big chair where he could sit comfortably together with his wife.

As he explains, “And since I tend to simplify things, I removed all the corners.” After sketching the chair, Aarnio considered its materials, ultimately deciding to use fiberglass and high-quality upholstery. People (or creatures) sitting within Ball Chair occupy their own universe. To make it so that no one had to abandon their domain, Aarnio even added a telephone inside the original.

Besides original editions of Ball Chair still floating around this world, a new version was reissued through Eero Aarnio Originals starting in 2016.

You can also find Ball Chair in countless museums. There is even a miniature version produced by Vitra. In order to bring an out-of-this-world experience to adults, Eero Aarnio banged out a Giant Ball Chair in 2019. Disappear inside it at the main store of the furniture shop Vepsäläinen in Espoo, Finland.

If you like the futurist Ball Chair, you might want to see 3rings’ Eero Aarnio Designer Profile.