Know Your Chairs: The Zig Zag Chair

Just when you thought we might be running out of chairs for this continuing series of posts "Know Your Chairs," we come to the delightfully simplistic Zig Zag Chair by Gerrit Reitveld (previously here).

Reitveld, who was associated with the De Stijl and Bauhaus movements of the early 20th century, designed the Zig Zag chair as a commission by Dutch department store Metz & Co. (founded in 1740 which closed in 2013) who wanted to sell a well-crafted chair but on a mass produced scale. He dreamt up this amazing sculptural creation of four flat wooden tiles merged in a Z-shape using Dovetail joints.

Rietveld at Utrecht’s Centraal Museum in 1958. 2018 Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York Pictoright/Amsterdam

The stark lines and slim profile make it perfect for modern or contemporary, starkly minimalist homes, but it also offers a fantastic contrast in transitional settings or paired with traditional furnishings.

While original and vintage chairs can fetch a very steep price, you can have one of these iconic chairs for yourself. Only the Italian furniture manufacturer Cassina is authorized and licensed to make the Zig Zag Chair.

Happy designing!