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I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the c

by lqet 5y ago

I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd-9238-4a97-9741-96ccc14883f2-at600.jpg https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd... The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.

aqsalose 5y ago
It was a retro-chair already in the 1970s. See here Aalto's Armchair 406 (made and sold by Artek) from 1939. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=imag...
2muchcoffeeman 5y ago
Billy has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!
- lqet 5y ago
  I was aware of that, but I would've never guessed that IKEA started selling Poäng before they started selling Billy.
Gravityloss 5y ago
Usually with furniture there are forerunner designers / manufacturers that establish an innovation, then all mass manufacturers copy it a decade or two or five later. For example the cantilever laminated wood frame chair made an appearance already in the 1930s. https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401 https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401 Cantilever steel tube + cane chair Cesca from 1928. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair
tonyedgecombe 5y ago
It's interesting to see the price of the Poäng over time: https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roeder-ikea-1.png?w=1150 https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roede... from: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-ikea/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-... I know people here like to criticise Ikea but they are remarkably good at squeezing cost out of their business.

by lqet 5y ago

aqsalose 5y ago

It was a retro-chair already in the 1970s. See here Aalto's Armchair 406 (made and sold by Artek) from 1939. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=imag...

2muchcoffeeman 5y ago

Billy has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!

lqet 5y ago
I was aware of that, but I would've never guessed that IKEA started selling Poäng before they started selling Billy.

Gravityloss 5y ago

Usually with furniture there are forerunner designers / manufacturers that establish an innovation, then all mass manufacturers copy it a decade or two or five later. For example the cantilever laminated wood frame chair made an appearance already in the 1930s. https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401 https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401 Cantilever steel tube + cane chair Cesca from 1928. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

It's interesting to see the price of the Poäng over time: https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roeder-ikea-1.png?w=1150 https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roede... from: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-ikea/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-... I know people here like to criticise Ikea but they are remarkably good at squeezing cost out of their business.