A global furniture blight if there ever were one, white plastic Monobloc chairs are ubiquitous for good reason: They’re waterproof, stackable, and easy to clean. And because each one is made from a single piece of molded plastic, they’re cheap to mass produce—which is also their fatal flaw for anyone concerned with bringing more PVC into the world.
But Monoblocs have come a long way since they were first popularized in the 1980s. Today’s updates speak far more to the chair’s surprising modernist precedents, like the 1960s fiberglass Bofinger chair by German architect Helmut Bätzner. Plastic Chair Manufacturers
Design-forward firms are now producing Monoblocs in fetching colors and ergonomic shapes, and some are using recycled plastic. Artist Sam Durant went so far as to create ironic porcelain versions, which make cheeky garden sculptures. These aren’t the plastic chairs to hide in a corner.
Keep reading to see our six favorite designs—and hear from the aesthetics of Emily Orr, the associate curator and acting head of product design and decorative arts at Cooper Hewitt in New York City.
Cropped view of blue, unique mono-block resin chair. built at jiao zhi studio, xiamen, china. produced by ye xing you and du wei dong with craftspeople xu liang jian and xu zhi hong. kang youteng, project manager and liaison. 2006 glazed porcelain 31½.
"When I picture the white plastic chair, I see it discarded or empty, maybe left behind after someone’s moved or at a community center in the corner with a bunch of others after an event. But other molded, single-plastic chairs can be really elegant. The slats in the white plastic Monoblocs are there to relieve the tension in the material so it can stand, but it ruins the glossy, sleek curves that can be achieved with a more sophisticated manufacturing technique." —Emily Orr
Spritz Lounge Chair by Archirivolto Design for Vondom
Read more: Our Favorite New Takes on Classic Outdoor Chairs
Edited by Meredith Mendelsohn Selections by Gabrielle Golenda
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