The Coconut Chair is designed by George Nelson, known as a
director of design at Herman Miller. The chair successfully stands out for its
humorous shape with a minimal use of materials. In the original version, the
shell was made of a piece of bent steel with foam rubber padding available in
artificial leather, fabric, or leather upholstery. The frame was made of steel
tubes. A steel tube was bent along the length of the shell to make the two
front legs and attached onto the shell by screwing. The second tube was screwed
onto the shell for the back leg. The crossbars were welded to 3 legs to improve
the strength. Thus, the original Coconut Chair looked light-weight, but very heavy
because of the sheet steel in fact.
Herman Miller later produced the shell using fiberglass-reinforced
polyester and screwed aluminium tube legs singly onto the form; the crossbars were
also screwed on. The change of material from steel to aluminium helped reducing
the weight and also avoiding broken welded points by screwing. However, the
Coconut Chair represents a mixed form in history of chair and the new stand
supports a shell made of steel. It also brings a greater sitting comfort and
increases the range of uses that offer users the freedom to sit in different
position.
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