Very comfortable” is not something that you normally associate with seats in Indian airports. But the chairs at the swanky new Bangalore and Hyderabad international airports (the new terminal in Delhi will have similar ones) are a far cry from the usual faded and dilapidated furniture found in most public sector utilities. These have been designed by the Swiss design house, Vitra.
It was a remarkably low-key entry into India for Europe’s top seating design house. whose first showcase studio in Mumbai was set up in 2006.
But it is a brand whose familiarity is steadily growing with clients like Cisco, Microsoft, Nokia, Sterlite, JP Morgan, Ernst & Young in India (even the Times of India is a recent convert).
Vitra began humbly in Weil am Rhein, Germany in 1950 as a venture by Willi Fehlbaum, the owner of a furniture shop in nearby Basel, Switzerland. The company’s USP has been faithfulness to the credo — never employ an in-house designer.
Well known industrial designers and architects like Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, Verner Panton, Antonio Citterio, Philippe Starck, Borek Sipek, Mario Bellini, Glen Oliver Löw, Dieter Thiel, Jasper Morrison, Alberto Meda, Ron Arad and Jean Prouvé, have all been associated with Vitra, which has given them the license to mould anything from any material to seat anyone in comfort and style.
Vitra has seated Muhammad Ali and the G8 leaders, and also a buck naked Kate Moss for the cover of Vogue.
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Moulded designs
The epitome of Vitra’s fluid design philosophy is the Panton Chair created by Verner Panton in 1960.
In series production from 1967, it was the first fully plastic chair made from a single section. Today Panton’s idea has been fully realised as technology has enabled the chair to be consistently dyed in tough plastic.
The year 1976 saw the birth of Vitramat designed by Wolfgang Muller-Deisig. The Vitramat was a leap in ergonomics, with office chairs starting to acquire the feel of domestic ones. The company today says ergonomics is as fundamental in its operations as design.
Vitra’s line for public spaces is starkly minimalist. The principles are not to allow any compromise on the aesthetics of a design for the sake of robustness and avoiding visual overstimulation at the same time. Of course, there’s always room for customisation.
