Emeco, the Aluminum Chair Company, will introduce "20-06", an all-aluminum chair, stool and table project by Foster + Partners at Tent London, September 20- 23, at the historic Truman Brewery, Space A39 (www.tentlondon.co.uk ).
“ Bringing Emeco to Tent London is a great opportunity to showcase Emeco's latest product - the '20-06. ”
The "20-06" chair recalls Emeco's classic 10-06 Navy Chair -- the all-aluminum icon first made for submarines in WWII - while expressing a refined structure and modern inference. Both "20-06" and the classic 10-06 have an estimated 150-year lifespan. "20-06" was selected by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for its 2006 Triennial.
Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco's Chariman, notes, "We have tripled Emeco's sales in the UK in the past two years though new distribution and products. We are working with Wieden + Kennedy London on a re-vamped website (www.emeco.net) that will launch in September to support our efforts. We're ready to have great time and make a big splash in London."
Darren Wright and Lucy Collier of Wieden + Kennedy London said, "Bringing Emeco to Tent London is a great opportunity to showcase Emeco's latest product - the '20-06.' It was designed by Sir Norman Foster to be both light and strong and we plan to have some fun testing this out. Anyone who saw our test films for the 10-06 Navy will know what we mean (www.youtube.com)."
The sleek new chairs, stools and tables feature an ultra-slim, all-aluminum frame, tempered for strength and hand made at the historic Hanover Pennsylvania factory using Emeco's proprietary "77 Step Process." The ergonomically shaped aluminum seat and back are hand welded, resulting in a minimal, seamless appearance. "20-06" is super-strong, yet uses 15% less aluminum than the original Navy Chair. Of that metal, 80% is recycled aluminum, qualifying as an environmentally sound product. The lightweight chairs will stack 10-15 high and retail for GBP 289 -- the same as the 10-06 Navy Chair. "20-06" is guaranteed for life.
Lord Norman Foster said, "I appreciate the anonymous character of the new collection -- it meshes seamlessly with our vision for interior space. '20-06' is the result of a genuine collaboration between the Foster Studio and the Emeco Team and will contribute to Emeco's remarkable history."
Gregg Buchbinder added, "Norman Foster and his group have fused modernist form with established craft. The Foster Studio combined advanced technology, inventive geometry, attention to detail, and sensitivity to ecological considerations with Emeco's unique manufacturing process to make a wholly new design. A Foster building and an Emeco chair are both modern in character, yet demonstrate a great respect for the past."
"Norman Foster is the Mozart of Modernism," wrote Paul Goldberger. Lord Foster became the 21st Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate in 1999 and was awarded the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in 2002. He has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Architecture (1994), the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (1983), and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture (1991). In 1990, he was granted a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours, appointed by the Queen to the Order of Merit in 1997 and in 1999 was honoured with a Life Peerage in the Queen's Birthday Honors List, as Lord Foster of Thames Bank.
Emeco was founded in 1944 to make all-aluminum chairs for the US Navy. Mr. Buchbinder purchased the company in 1998 and began a friendship and association with the renowned French architect, Philippe Starck, creating a series of products that united Emeco's historic manufacturing capabilities with Mr. Starck's classic designs for a new century.
In 2000, Mr. Starck's Hudson chair for Emeco won the GOOD DESIGN Award and was inducted into the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 2004, Emeco collaborated with the American architect Frank Gehry on Superlight, a chair that utilizes aluminum's ability to be both strong and flexible. Mr. Gehry's chair won another GOOD DESIGN award in 2004 and was included in collections at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Pinakothek der Modern in Munich. Most recently, Emeco worked with BMW DesignworksUSA to re-interpret a long-lost Emeco chair from 1951 for the contemporary market.
Emeco has made over 1,000,000 Navy chairs since 1944, and now sells its all-aluminum furniture in 50 countries.
See the entire Emeco collection at Brands Ltd., 99 St. John St. Clerkenwell London EC1M 4AS. +44 (0)20 7017 1670.
