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Monobloc chair
- kube-system 7y agoThe most ingenious designs are the ones that are everywhere but nobody ever notices.
- CaptainZapp 7y agoI wouldn't say it's not noticed It is, mostly in an unfavorable way. A German moniker for the chair is 'Rasen Akne', which translates to 'lawn acne'. As you can probably surmise that's not meant as a compliment.
- Tepix 7y ago> "Seeing a white plastic chair in a photograph offers you no clues about where or when you are" Well you know it's 1970s or later.
- 29athrowaway 7y agoThey don't stand much weight compared to other chairs. But you may stack multiple of them to solve that problem.
- BozeWolf 7y agoIt stands enough weight for above average weight of people in the 70s. It was designed with that in mind probably. Times/people changed though.
- rtkwe 7y agoAnother big factor is how they're stored. If left outside in the sun they'll become pretty brittle. Most people probably experience poorly stored and older examples of these chairs just by sheer probability.
- colordrops 7y agoThese are basically disposable chairs that break easily and sit in landfills forever. I'm shocked that over a billion have been sold in Europe alone. They are aesthetically offensive in my opinion.
- rolleiflex 7y agoThat break easily? These things are nigh indestructible in my experience. It’s possible that you had ones that weren’t rated for the appropriate weight, they have slightly different sizes and larger ones are beefier.
- snazz 7y agoA lot of them are used outdoors in harsh climates where they’re exposed to the elements, making the plastic brittle. Used as intended, they should be indestructible.
- serf 7y agomost variants of these chairs last about a year in the mojave desert cities/most of arizona before dusting to fragments. the worst part is when they wait for you to sit on them before doing so. i've noticed the darker colors tend to last longer, I don't know why.
- alexdumitru 7y agoI weight just around 70kg and I broke two in an hour by just standing on them. I'm quite scared using them now.
- jvandonsel 7y agoEvery time I see one I'm reminded of how uncomfortable they are.
- notatoad 7y agoI couldn't disagree more. That's my favourite thing about these chairs - they're cheap and ugly, but i actually find them really nice to sit in. There's just the right amount of flex to support you and bend to the shape of your body without feeling flimsy. Most cheap chairs are either totally inflexible, or too flimsy.
- OskarS 7y agoI always hesitate to sit in them because I always get the impression that they’re dirty. I think that’s a problem with them being white: every speck of dirt stands out. I agree though: very comfortable to sit in.
- GordonS 7y agoThey also get really hot and bendy if you leave them in the sun. I recall have the legs of one collapse under me in Brazil because of this (I'm not a particular large person!).
- erikpukinskis 7y agoThe ones like that are trash. Properly designed ones don’t bend and are basically indestructible.
- creddit 7y agoBryan Ropar on YouTube is a dedicated collector of many examples and extensions of the design. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2UvVoTS460 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2UvVoTS460
- ChuckMcM 7y agoOne of the 3D metal printing companies made a titanium version of this chair and had it out at Westec or one of the tradeshows. It gave me really mixed emotions, do I want it because its frickin' titanium or am I just impressed you can print something like that? I expect that chair to outlive the company and possibly humans on the planet :-)
- thewarpaint 7y ago"I expect that chair to outlive the company and possibly humans on the planet" is a sentence that I would react to with the opposite emotion :-(
- ChuckMcM 7y agoWhen future cockroach geologists look upon this artifact they might speculate it was a throne for the giant creatures that used to rule the planet :-)
- ljm 7y agoYou assume they might know or appreciate chairs and thrones. More likely they see it as an ancient monolith.
- hdjejdjd 7y agoYeah your opinion about future cockroach geologists studying ancient human civilization is more scientifically valid than the other person's.
- DeedsMoraine 7y agoWell, they may recognize the shape of the chair as being similar to the stations at the end of the ancient transport system the precursors created. But since that system of tubes was too small for humans to travel through, it must have been something from an even older culture that humans co-opted and used in their ritualistic worship of the rectangle deity.
- codeulike 7y agoThats quite a cool name for a chair. I think I like them better, knowing that I can call them that. "Hey, pull up a monobloc and tell me all about it!"
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- dehrmann 7y agoProbably worth mentioning the Emeco 1006, a similarly iconic chair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeco_1006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeco_1006
- telesilla 7y agoIs this U.S. specific? I've never come across it (though it seems like something I might have seen in a café in north america). The monobloc I've seen in every continent except Antartica - as I've not been, but I'm sure there is someone here who could attest that they've sat on one there.
- btrettel 7y agoThese types of chairs are basically everywhere in Austin, TX. I actually sat on one earlier today at a cafe. (Probably was a knockoff as it had 4 vertical struts.)
- TylerE 7y agoIt's a hipster thing. As a lifelong US resident I've seen those no more than a handful of times, always at hipster bars or restaurants.
- cat199 7y ago> As a lifelong US resident how old are you? in my recollection, the old/original ones were around alot kind of everywhere (watch 60s movies with office/interior scenes, etc, though i'm younger than that), gradually fading away, and then the new ones came back on the scene ~10y ago (and yes, now very often at hipster sorts of places)
- thecardcheat 7y agoIn my 30s here, so past the heyday. I have lived in several regions of the US and traveled to the rest - these aren't very common.
- 7y ago
- c3534l 7y agoThe red solo cup of international chairs.
- rejschaap 7y agoI've actually never seen those cups outside of the US, which was surprising to me as they are so pervasive inside.
- Freak_NL 7y agoLook more closely; we've had these for years. These bloody things are now sold in nearly all party shops, variety stores, and supermarkets in the Netherlands, because US media (like films and music videos) and social media from America feature these as the cups you use for a party. Your local Jumbo sells them. Your local Action probably too. They seem to be bought by teenagers mainly. For the non-Dutch: the stereotypical plastic cup in the Netherlands is white and much smaller than these solo-cups. The trend is towards more environmentally friendly paper cups though.
- Freak_NL 7y agoAlso Albert Heijn: https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi434996/ah-party-cups https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi434996/ah-party-cups Once you notice them, you'll see them everywhere.
- momirlan 7y agoprobably one of the objects most washed up on the shores of the planet. creates piles of indestructible garbage
- thaumasiotes 7y ago> creates piles of indestructible garbage This is a serious conflict with the other complaint that they spontaneously disintegrate under exposure to sunlight.
- marton78 7y ago... to a zillion tiny pieces of microplastic.
- Pfhreak 7y agoNo it isn't. If it cracks in half it is no longer useful as a chair, but the overall volume of garbage hasn't been reduced.
- erikpukinskis 7y agoIt depends on whether the plastic is properly engineered. If you bought it in 2020 it’s probably not. If you bought it before 1990 it probably is.
- phamilton 7y agoA more unique use case, but these remind me of water polo practice. We'd have to carry them across the pool without getting them wet. Sometimes we'd do 3 person drills where 1 person would carry it across and hand it to the next person who would carry it across to the 3rd person who would carry it back to the first person, etc. The chair was well suited because you could hold it by any two legs easily enough, so when handing it off you didn't have to re-adjust. It was a brutal drill, especially since your "rest" was treading water.
- frant-hartm 7y agoOT but I never understood why treading water in calm comfortable temperature (20C plus) pool is supposed to be difficult (or even slightly tiring). For me it is definitely less effort than e.g. standing up.
- andbberger 7y agoHow could treading water possible be less effort (which I read as less energy) than passively standing?? Also gets a lot more difficult when you can only eggbeater with your legs and have to hold a chair above your head!!
- nazgulnarsil 7y agopeople are different densities ;)
- frant-hartm 7y agoHaha I had to lookup what eggbeater means and based on some YouTube videos it's crazy how much some people have to move to stay afloat. The body densities must vary a lot more than I thought.
- phamilton 7y agoEggbeater in water polo is usually used to rise out of the water. Taking shots on goal is much more effective with your upper body out of the water. Most people can float on their back without much effort.
- butterthebuddha 7y agoI don't think I've ever seen these in the US, and I find it interesting that these are also ubiquitous in Europe.
- bullfightonmars 7y agoThese are everywhere in the US and have been for decades. I have a stack of them on my patio.
- mshroyer 7y agoThese are ubiquitous in the US too. You'll find them in most Hope Depot or Walmart locations.
- krilly 7y agoI wish to share the world's foremost authority on chairs, Bryan Ropar https://youtube.com/channel/UCAajKTeS-mCS3PccJUrrIzw https://youtube.com/channel/UCAajKTeS-mCS3PccJUrrIzw
- dirtyid 7y agoThe OG ugly design has seemingly insurmountable cultural inertia. Many handsome modern monobloc designs out there, production cost not that much greater, but I very rarely see them being sold or being used out in the wild. Wonder if there's a "stack" of theseus thing going on, since the modern designs are largely not stack compatible with the original geometry. Really annoying/perplexing this form factor has lasted so long.
- pixelpoet 7y agoSuch a distinctive sound when you drag them on the ground, too; I can hear it perfectly.
- e40 7y agoI have no idea where I saw them, but I bought 4 of these and they are the most comfortable folding chair I've ever sat in. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PJ0VJQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005PJ0VJQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt... Definitely made of plastic.
- JoshTriplett 7y agoI'm surprised that an article that says "stackable" in the first sentence doesn't have a picture to show the chairs stacked together. Two examples: https://payload.cargocollective.com/1/12/412300/6034129/stackedchairs_600.gif https://payload.cargocollective.com/1/12/412300/6034129/stac... https://i.pinimg.com/736x/27/cb/7c/27cb7c5a2e9610cff78e47ce56d7ac86--stackable-chairs-magis.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/27/cb/7c/27cb7c5a2e9610cff78e47ce5... Hopefully someone has (or can take) a freely licensed image to add to the article.
- Rapzid 7y agoThere is quite a bit wrong with that article; it reads like a middle school weekly report; on Monobloc chairs. Maybe it is?!
- daveFNbuck 7y agoThe article is pretty short and straightforward. Can you name a specific thing that's wrong with it?
- johannes1234321 7y agoAnd even better: You can click the "Edit" button and improve it!
- Rapzid 7y agoSure, there are too many ideas in the second/last paragraph.
- daveFNbuck 7y agoSo when you say there's quite a bit wrong, you don't mean that any of the content is inaccurate?
- aaron695 7y agoI love the way Monobloc is not linked (Admittedly missing from Wikipedia atm), but chair, white and plastic is. "The Monobloc chair is a lightweight stackable polypropylene chair, usually white in colour, often described as the world's most common plastic chair" Monobloc, adjective made as, contained in, or involving a single casting.
- Stratoscope 7y agoAnyone can edit Wikipedia, including you! When you see something like this, feel free to jump in and fix it. I went ahead and edited the page for you, linking the second instance of "monobloc" to the disambiguation page for that word. It seemed like a tossup between linking the word there vs. the highlighted word in the first sentence, so if you think something else would be more helpful in the article, please go for it. Thanks!
- dmurray 7y agoAFAIR you're not meant to link to a disambiguation page, which makes sense because you already know which meaning of the word you wanted.
- Joyfield 7y agoI have broken at least one of those and I am sure I will break more in the future.
- kaffeemitsahne 7y agoThere's also this one, quite a bit prettier: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panton_Chair https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panton_Chair
- ronyfadel 7y agoSeeing objects like this makes me think of the book, the Design of Everyday Things[1]. We often forget that these products have been designed by someone, somewhere, who thought long and hard about their aesthetics, usability and cost. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_Things https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Design_of_Everyday_Things
- netsharc 7y agoThere's an interesting gallery from an exhibition of photos of where the Monobloc is found: http://www.abitare.it/en/gallery/events/chairs-monobloc-vitra-exhibition/?ref=291427#gallery http://www.abitare.it/en/gallery/events/chairs-monobloc-vitr...
- gumby 7y agoMicro monobloc application: https://www.awesomeinventions.com/tiny-pizza-table-and-chairs/ https://www.awesomeinventions.com/tiny-pizza-table-and-chair...
- smileypete 7y agoReminds me of a documentary on the common but little known Robin Day chair: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYWPuJ_zJc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTYWPuJ_zJc For something a step up from the monobloc, a typica classroom chair will last and take some abuse, though not as common especially in low quantities.