Vitra

Rocking chair RE RAR - Eames Plastic Armchair plastic material / (1950) - Recycled

Treat yourself to an ORIGINAL iconic piece by Vitra. An original will always hold its value. It will stay with you for your whole life and outlast you, to be passed on to the next generation. Swiss design house Vitra is the only company authorised to manufacture Charles & Ray Eames products for Europe: if you own an Eames product manufactured by Vitra, you can be sure it’s an original. Design Icons are going green...Since January 2024 the shells of the famous Eames Plastic Chairs from Vitra have been made from recycled post-consumer plastic and are 100% recyclable. This family of chairs will now be known as Eames Plastic Chair RE. The recycling material used comes from household waste, primarily from used packaging collected as part of Germany's "Gelber Sack" (yellow bag) waste collection programme. Due to the composition of the recycled materials, the seat shells are interspersed with tiny specks of pigment. Charles and Ray Eames are two of the most important designers of the 20th century. The first plastic chairs to be mass-produced, the Shell Chairs by Charles and Ray Eames are among the major creations in the history of furniture. The idea of creating a one-piece moulded seat shell, adapted to the human body, was the focus of this pair of designers for many years. After experimenting with plywood and aluminium sheeting in the 1940s without producing satisfactory results, their search for alternative materials led them to discover glassfibre-reinforced polyester resin. This material, which was completely unheard-of in the furniture industry at the time, allowed moulded shells to be developed and refined up to mass production. This one-piece, organically shaped shell turned out to be a much-admired innovation at a time when chairs were, for the most part, composed of a seat and back. Fibreglass offered the added benefit of a pleasant feel and perfectly moulded shell for extraordinary comfort. After their initial presentation at the "Low Cost Furniture Design" competition, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in 1948, the Plastic Armchair and the Plastic Side Chair were launched in 1950 as the first, mass-produced plastic chairs. With the launch of this revolutionary creation, Charles and Ray Eames introduced a new type of furniture that has since spread around the world: the multifunctional chair whose shell can be combined with a wide variety of different bases. One model has always stood out from the vast family of chairs: the Rocking Armchair Rod Base (RAR). Despite its compact dimensions, this rocking chair offers pleasant comfort even for tall users. With a steel wire base on wooden rockers, the Fiberglass Chair RAR is an armchair with an iconic shape that’s immediately recognisable. Today, Vitra manufactures RAR armchairs with two different shells: the Eames Plastic Chairs have a recycled plastic shell while the Eames Fibreglass Chairs have a glass-fibre-reinforced polyester resin shell just like the first models. Due to the high quality of Vitra originals, the manufacturer offers a 10-year guarantee (register your product on the dedicated website to benefit from the extended warranty).

In detail:

• Variation : Poppy red / Chrome legs / Light wood

• Brand : Vitra

• Designer : Charles & Ray Eames

• Type : Rocking chair

• Colour : Shell: Poppy red / Chrome base/ Rockers: Yellow-coloured maple wood (light wood) - Black glides

• Material : Shell: recycled post-consumer plastic from household waste (100% recyclable) - Base: chromed steel wire with cross-braces - Rockers: solid maple in a shade of yellow (from Western Europe and/or Poland)

• Dimensions : L 63 x Depth 81 cm x H 76 cm - Seat: L 41 x Depth 60 x H 37 cm - Base: L 52 cm
• Weight : 9.9 lb
• Characteristics : Shell made from recycled material from household waste (shell is interspersed with tiny flecks of pigment) - A design icon - Model designed in 1950 by Charles & Ray Eames - Original piece by Vitra stamped and engraved under the seat (will always hold its value) - 10-year warranty (register your product on the dedicated website to benefit from the extended warranty) - Not stackable - For indoor use only