Designed by Maarten Baas in 2002 for his degree show, reading about the chair on Dezeen; Moooi picked up Baas at this show and started production immediately, how is that for hitting the ground running. The chairs are literally burnt in the factory, an interesting fact about the structural capacity of timber; it can withstand fire better then steel as timber will char it’s outer layers and holds its strength internally whereas steel melts, bends and generally fails in high heat.
So back to Baas and the Smoke chair. These are classically styled chairs based on the Louis XV chairs, they are charred then coated with a hi-gloss epoxy resin which protects the burns and also creates a stunning finish. The upholstery is then installed in matte black to round out the product, check out below to see some detail shots. I’ve been fascinated with Maarten Baas’ designs including his clock series, refer to a previous post here, also check out Moooi here or Maarten Baas’ website here. Baas currently has a show exhibiting at the Groningen Museum in the Netherlands that is also coinciding with a book launch as a retrospective of his work. The book is called Hide & Seek.
