Konstantin Grcic has always been a designer subtly aware of the discipline’s history. He’s not just interested in what others did well, but wants to find out whether the one or other principle cannot be put to new and possibly different use. In the past, he’s taken a glance at Pio Manzù, Achille Castiglioni, Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier – to demonstrate how superb the results can be, as the effort has always culminated in a “genuine Grcic”.
So it almost seems obvious that when designing a desk chair for Artek Konstantin Grcic shows how much he reveres Alvar Aalto’ beechwood works while also creating something quite unmistakable. The home office seat goes by the straightforward name of “Rival Chair”. Available with two different backrests, both of which are in Aalto’s typical manner attached “very straightforwardly”, as Grcic puts it, from the outside to the frame. Even if it does not yet officially exist, it’s already in a museum. And in Milan you can check it out more closely for yourself. (tw)
Artek
Hall 20 booth C08
Salone Internazionale del Mobile
April 8-13, 2014
Milan, Rho trade fair complex
