The Monobloc Chair
There are few designs that exist that can be said to be truly global, and there is just one that can be said to be the most widely used piece of furniture in the world.
The Monobloc chair is a design that is often completely overlooked, but in many ways, it is the quintessential example of what makes ‘great design’. Lightweight and stackable, they can be quickly distributed for large social gatherings and then easily stored away again in a small cupboard. Although white is the more commonly seen variant, they can be produced in a large range of colours and styles.
The Monobloc is named for its manufacture technique of injection moulding thermoplastic polypropylene into a single mould to produce a single, complete product. While a very basic technique now, before the advent of polymers, the making of furniture from a single piece of material was little more than an industrial designer’s pipe dream. Many experimented with plywood and metal sheets to little success. This innovative manufacture technique aids in their biggest success: they are affordable. These days, with plastic being one of the cheapest materials to mass produce, the chair can be made for less than £3, making them accessible to most of the world. In addition to this, such a basic and obvious structure makes them intrinsically understandable to anyone, regardless of gender, race, culture or class – a design for the masses.
If you were to take the Monobloc through Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design, you’ll find that it fairs very well, perhaps only tripping up on rule number 9: ‘good design is environmentally friendly’. As excellent as the design is, you definitely couldn’t accuse it of being sustainable. In spite of this, I find myself strangely enamoured with this chair. Completely invisible and ambivalent, the chair has achieved a kind of benign infamy, lurking around every street corner, back garden and outdoor seating area in the world simply because everyone uses them. With over a billion produced and their lack of biodegradability, perhaps this simple chair design has achieved what human beings have always strived for: immortality.