Grcic: Rival / 30

Designed for the home-office, Konstantin Grcic’s first chair for Artek, presented during Milan Design Week, is made from birch and features a circular seat that follows its rotational movement.

Konstantin Grcic’s first design for Artek, the multifunctional Rival chair has been designed for those who work from home.

With the use of materials, a mix of solid birch for the legs and laminated birch for the arms and back and in the circular shape of the seat, Rival remains rooted in the Artek tradition

Grcic has designed legs milled from a single piece of solid birch; this method has been used recently to make a number of chairs, with the result that the wood assumes a fluid quality that makes it seem more similar to moulded plastic. Grcic however has kept a more conventional shape that reflects the material quality of the birch. The back and arms are made from birch with saw-cut lamella.

For Grcic, the design of these chair works on a number of levels. One is the choice of materials and it was clear that in Rival birch would play an important role. There is also the home-office typology, a reflection of a contemporary approach to living. Thirdly there is what could be called the grammar of construction, the way in which the piece is assembled.