A Ribbon to Sit Upon

A Ribbon to Sit Upon

We couldn’t do a week of writing around the theme of “ribbons” and not include Pierre Paulin’s iconic Ribbon chair from 1966 for Artifort.

Vintage marketing materials for Ribbon Chair featuring an airplane taking off and Ribbon Chair on the runway

This armchair is world famous at this point. One might encounter Ribbon in various colors and patterns at airports, in office buildings, and even part of elevated home designs. Ribbon in green (as seen below) is even among the permanent collection at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

Ribbon Chair in Green

(At the time of publishing the article, “Ribbon Chair (Model 582) & Ottoman” is also on view in Postmodern Gallery 8 at the Kirkland Museum in Denver.)

Ribbon Chair in the MoMA archives

Ribbons themselves bend and float. I am imagining a slew of them on a table as someone nearby wraps a present. Ribbon chair, to me, seems as if Paulin saw one ribbon looped up on its side, made that life-sized, and then took a seat.

“These large, heavy duty loungers are just as much sculpture as they are chair, without sacrificing a morsel of comfort,” writes Whatever Gallery. “Yes, they are very comfortable.”

Ribbon Chair on display on the show floor

Imagine sinking into a ribbon sturdy enough to hold you with space enough for your elbows to stretch out: comfort from creativity.

The Ribbon (F582) armchair is made of metal, rubber, latex foam, lacquered wood, and cloth upholstery. It is available with an optional footstool (P582).

Ribbon Chair and matching ottoman in a vibrant blue velour

For more ribbon-y fun, check out Dropped on its Side, a curvy and clever side table.

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