In the 1950s – an age when interior design came second only to science and technology in its ability to get people really excited – a wonderful chair was conceived. The Bowl Chair, designed by Italian-Brazilian architect Lina Bo Bardi, was a triumph of fun and function: a semi-spherical seat resting on – and movable within – a metallic ring structure, supported by four legs. Only possible to make due to advances in industrialisation, its look evoked the fashionable atomic age and would be a precursor to the lounging look of the swinging 60s.  With its ultra simple, organic form, the Bowl Chair not only epitomised everything that Bo Bardi – a hugely influential pioneer of modernist values – stood for, but also represented a shift in the way people viewed their furniture at the time. Gone was the stuffy upright sitting of the olden days, the Bowl Chair heralded a relaxed future, an era of swivelling, and interaction.  Although the Bowl Chair was never originally produced, Italian manufacturer Arper believes that now the time is right. Working closely with the Instituto Lina Bo e P. M. Bardi, it has committed to making 500, remaining faithful to the original design while also bringing their 21st century expertise into the mix.  Lina’s design philosophy, according to those who knew her, was one of accessibility, engagement and generosity. In her own words, back in 1951: “To standardise means to extend the possibility, to make it possible that something for a few may be extended to many, means to ‘improve,’ because it is much easier to deeply study a basic organism than it is to study an indefinite, countless series of them.”  Keen to fulfill this shared ambition, Arper embarked on a mission to standardise the production of the Bowl Chair and make it available to the public. Claudio Feltrin, the manufacturer’s CEO and vice president announced that “In doing this, we wish to give the Bowl Chair and Lina’s way of thinking a future.”  After three months of conversation, collaboration, design and testing, a single, black leather version of Arper’s Bowl Chair was presented in London in 2012, since when the company has been working hard with the Instituto to create a rainbow of different fabrics and finishes that would reflect Lina’s many sketches and could be reconfigured in multiple variations.  Beyond the sketches, there was little concrete documentation available on the production specifications of the chair. Only two were ever built, slightly different from each other (both now reside in São Paulo, at Bo Bardi’s home, the famous Casa de Vidro, otherwise known as the Glass House). Guess work was necessary, but in the spirit of the designer, Arper attempted to integrate the precision and sensitivity evident in Bo Bardi’s renovation of historic buildings like the Historic Centre of Bahia and the SESC Pompéia, into the chair.  A universal chair in every sense, its creation required some considerable effort in communications between Arper and the Instituto, says Feltrin, and this ensued through every possible means. Director of the Instituto, Anna Carboncini and design historian, Renato Anelli were critical partners from the beginning. While most conversation between Italy and Brazil would be digital the universal language of hand gesture, perhaps the deepest cultural link shared between Brazilian and Italian cultures, prevailed. While technology may have moved on, and materials are ever more developed, the Bowl Chair is proof that the language of design hasn’t changed.  Arper’s Bowl Chair costs €4.200,00 + Tax (£3700 + VAT and shipping) and is available to buy from Arper  This article appears in the print edition of Luxury, out with the Saturday Telegraph on April 5
Italian manufacturer Arper bring architect Lina Bo Bardi's 1950s modernist chair to life with a limited edition run