Polypropylene side chair, Tip Ton chair designed by Barber Osgerby.
Identifier
FPF485
Title
Polypropylene side chair, Tip Ton chair designed by Barber Osgerby.
Date
Designed 2011, manufactured since 2011.
Description
A grey polypropylene side chair designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby and manufactured by Vitra.
Full Description
This polypropylene side chair is injection moulded in one piece. It has a traditional chair form, with a concave back panel, contoured seat, and back and front legs, but with the unique feature of angled skids between the front and back legs, providing two sitting positions. When the sitter’s balance is shifted forward the chair tips onto the forward angle, straightening the pelvis and spine and improving circulation to the abdominal and back muscles. The Tip Ton chair was designed in 2011 by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby and is manufactured by Vitra.
Barber and Osgerby (both born in 1969) met in 1992, whilst studying architecture and interior design at the Royal College of Art. They established their London based industrial design studio in 1996 and their collaborative work has included furniture, industrial design and architecture. The Tip Ton originated in 2008 when they were invited by the Royal Society of Arts to advise on the purchase of furniture for a new school in Tipton. They chose to develop a more dynamic alternative to what they saw as the static character of most school chairs, based on research establishing the link between movement and improved learning performance. The design was developed in collaboration with Vitra.
Weighing just 4.5kg, the Tip Ton is light, robust, stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Since 2020 it has been manufactured in fully recyclable polypropylene. It is available in a choice of eight colours.
The Tip Ton chair is held in the permanent collections of the London Design Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Vitra Design Museum in Basel.
Barber and Osgerby (both born in 1969) met in 1992, whilst studying architecture and interior design at the Royal College of Art. They established their London based industrial design studio in 1996 and their collaborative work has included furniture, industrial design and architecture. The Tip Ton originated in 2008 when they were invited by the Royal Society of Arts to advise on the purchase of furniture for a new school in Tipton. They chose to develop a more dynamic alternative to what they saw as the static character of most school chairs, based on research establishing the link between movement and improved learning performance. The design was developed in collaboration with Vitra.
Weighing just 4.5kg, the Tip Ton is light, robust, stackable and suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Since 2020 it has been manufactured in fully recyclable polypropylene. It is available in a choice of eight colours.
The Tip Ton chair is held in the permanent collections of the London Design Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Vitra Design Museum in Basel.
Condition
Good.
Materials
Polypropylene.
Physical Dimensions
H. 79
W. 50
D. 56
W. 50
D. 56
Marks
Moulded into underside of seat, ‘340-923 www.tuv.com TUV Plastics ID: 1000000000’.
Another mark: ‘GS geprufte Sicherheit’.
Another mark: ‘GS geprufte Sicherheit’.
Provenance
Donated to the Frederick Parker Collection by Vitra in 2014.
Notes
Barber Osgerby
Tip Ton | Vitra
See also: Mateo Kries, Vitra Atlas of Furniture Design, 2019, item 1340, pp.778-9.
Tip Ton | Vitra
See also: Mateo Kries, Vitra Atlas of Furniture Design, 2019, item 1340, pp.778-9.
