These white plastic chairs, which we see on the balcony, in the garden, at street weddings, cheap cafes and much more, actually have a name: Monoblock chair.

We can summarize the subject by saying “It’s so common because it can be stacked and cheap”, but it would be helpful to get to know him a little better; Finally not only Turkey, It has succeeded in invading every corner of the world.

Many elements such as sockets, clothes, traffic signs give you clues about that country. However, the monoblock ignores these differences and is independent of time and space.

For example, if you see a monoblock in a photo, you won’t be able to guess where that photo was taken. Someone in Argentina is in this chair, as well as someone in Japan, where you will experience culture shock. It is the epitome of globalization He is also an icon.

The name of the monoblock chair comes from the words “mono(one)” and “bloc(block)”. It means “one block”.

like other chairs not more than one piece, It is made from a single piece of thermoplastic called polypropylene. What are these highly technical terms?

polypropylene; used in food packaging, auto industry, textile field and many more. thermoplastic is a polymer.

As you can see with “Thermo”, there is heat involved; this plastic is heated to 220 degrees and through injection molding It is produced quickly and cheaply. The same method is used in products such as demijohns and some types of suitcases.

Molds are expensive, but because it allows for mass production, it significantly reduces labor, time and material costs. The success of the monoblock it’s here.

About a billion monoblocks have been sold in Europe alone. A single Italian manufacturer produces more than 10 million monoblocks per year.

The production cost of a chair is just $3.5. It takes up less space because it can be stacked on top of each other, which you must have tried as a child to put these chairs on top of each other.

Of course, we will not consider this chair so simple. An object that is even of interest to social theorists and artists.

Some social theorists, used phrases like “disturbing” and “the real evil of globalization” for this controversial piece of furniture. This controversial icon, the world’s most globalized object, is for many a symbol of globalized design. Good a homogeneous culture It’s a sign that we’re trapped.

As we will agree, the design of this chair is quite ordinary. Between 2008 and 2017 in public areas in Basel, Switzerland, due to disturbance of the cityscape. was banned.

So does this icon have a designer?

He-her-it We don’t even know who invented it. We can name only a few examples.

Chair possibly named Vico Magistretti in 1967 designed by an Italian and it was mass-produced in the 1970s by a company called Grosfillex Group, but it is unknown who actually designed it as there are no original patents.

Going back a little further, we see that it resembles a 1946 prototype by Canadian designer Douglas Simpson.

Douglas Simpson’s prototype in 1946

This chair is also a monoblock; It consists of one piece and can be stacked. However, since there was no suitable molding process at the time, this design was production was limited.

In the 1960s by the Danish designer Verner Panton a similar design Things changed when it was released.

design by Verner Panton

This is what we can call the predecessor of the original icon. classic modernist The piece is considered to be the first molded plastic chair with its distinctive S-shaped design.

This chair, called Panton, was the fashion of that period. Space Age style (think 2001: A Space Odyssey). This chair is still produced by the Swiss company Vitra; It can be found in museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Design Museum in London, the German History Museum in Berlin, and the Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen.

One-piece plastic chair variants It was produced in the 1970s by the Allibert Group and the Grosfillex Group. It is also said that the chair named “Fauteuil 300” from 1972, signed by the French engineer Henry Massonnet, may be the first example of a monoblock. Inspired by Joe Colombo’s 1965 design for Chair Universal 4867.

Stacking chair Universale by Joe Colombo

Since then, Russia, Taiwan, Australia, Mexico, the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Morocco, Turkish, It has been produced in millions and many variants have been made in countries such as Israel, India and China.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the continued success of the monoblock chair. Although pushed and shoved, it can sometimes be appreciated by artists.

You have so many memories of this orphan design…