Ask a weary person the importance of a chair to rest his tired back and ask a rich man the significance of a designer chair to experience luxury. While the answer to the former is obvious, the latter can only be appraised from the prices quoted for the extravagance in style, quality and the comfort factors. Like the ones unravelled here to wow connoisseurs of fine furniture…
Aresline Xten
Created by Italian car designing firm Pininfarina – known for Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati car projects – the Aresline Xten is claimed to be the most comfortable seat in the market. It demonstrates the role of technology in ensuring your body’s comfort. Techno gel is used to conform the chair to your body’s contour, thereby reducing even the slightest of seating pressure and fatigue; that also means you could spend long hours on it at office. It is also embedded with Dynamic Synchronised Tilting to tilt the back and seat as per your convenience and comfort. Price: $1.5 million
Chieftains Chair
As the name suggests, Chieftain’s chair is designed to make you feel like a chieftain occupying a prime seat of power. It was, in fact, named King’s chair when it was exhibited at Copenhagen design in 1949. Designed by Finn Juhl, its make and look is inspired by weaponry; it is a present day icon within Danish furniture art. Made in walnut and teak and enhanced with leather, it is grand in its scale and presentation. Price: $15,730
Egg Chair
Want to get cocooned in an egg? This Arne Jacobsen designed egg chair could do the trick. Jacobsen, a well known architect, probably found his muse in designing furniture, as well as wallpapers and textiles. The story goes that Jacobsen sculpted the egg of clay in his garage and then moulded the chair out of a strong foam shell under the upholstery, in 1958. It was designed as a show-stopper in the reception and lobbies of luxurious hotels. It comes with a foot stool, to rest your back and your feet in style. Price: $7,292
Power Play Club Chair
Famous architect Frank Gehry sought inspiration from the sturdy apple crates he played as a child to create club chair with thermo gel. It is his original collection of bentwood chair and table designs. He crafted the collection with interwoven strips of maple, with ribbons of wood taking on a modernist approach of deriving form from function. Although all the wooden strips give it a very rigid look, the thermo gel makes it comfortable – you could opt to use cushion, if needed. Price: from $8,800 onwards
Coconut Chair
Designer Nelson had a fascination for coconuts, it appears. He compared his chair, which has been described as a typical 1950s design, with a coconut cut into 8 parts. But his coconut chair has colours inverted, giving the seat shell the typical coconut white colour. The upholstery, however, comes in different colours. What the coconut shape offers is the choice to sit in different positions, depending on your whim and fancy – or perhaps comfort level. Price: $4,500
Asymmetric Chaise
Harry Bertoia’s Asymmetric Lounge has had an interesting journey. A part of his 1952 wire chair collection, the chair never made it beyond a prototype until 2005. Bertoia’s experiment with bending metal rods into practical art produced this collection. The current version is made from pure steel rods and enhanced with stainless steel. It has vinyl pad seats – 35 percent rayon and 64 percent polyester. Price: $6,628
Oculus Chair
A seat with an eye, that’s what Hans J. Wegner’s Oculus Chair is. As the name suggests (Ouclus is Latin for eye), the back seat curve is suggestive of an eye. This chair too remained a prototype for 50 years until it was launched in 2010, as an exclusive piece of furniture for the discerning client. The seat, made of pure leather, is perfected to give total comfort with support of the neck and back. Its legs are made from stainless steel. Price: $5,350