Womb Chair & Ottoman_Miniature_web_sub_hero

Miniatures Womb Chair & Ottoman

Eero Saarinen, 1948

The Womb Chair is regarded as one of the icons of postwar American Modernism. Designed by Eero Saarinen in 1946 and manufactured by Knoll International since 1948 (originally as Model No. 70), this armchair is the first piece of mass produced furniture in the history of design with an integrated seat shell made of fibre reinforced plastic. The expansive foam upholstered shell, which has two inset cushions for added comfort, is supported by a bent tubular steel frame.

Saarinen developed the Womb Chair in close collaboration with a boat builder. His stated intention was to design a chair that would allow a variety of sitting positions and create a special feeling of relaxation and cosiness. This central design concept finds vivid expression in its name.

Information

Product family

Miniatures Collection

For over two decades, the Vitra Design Museum has been making miniature replicas of milestones in furniture design from its collection. The Miniatures Collection encapsulates the entire history of industrial furniture design – moving from Historicism and Art Nouveau to the Bauhaus and New Objectivity, from Radical Design and Postmodernism all the way up to the present day. Exactly one sixth the size of the historical originals, the chairs are all true to scale and precisely recreate the smallest details of construction, material and colour. The high standard of authenticity even extends to the natural grain of the wood, the reproduction of screws and the elaborate handicraft techniques involved. This has made the miniatures into popular collector's items as well as ideal illustrative material for universities, design schools and architects.