Domus Chair

Overview

The Domus Chair carries Ilmari Tapiovaara's name and the year 1946 on Artek's product page. It was created for the Domus Academica student housing complex in Helsinki and has a contoured wooden seat, short armrests and a stacking capacity of up to four chairs.

Construction

The frame is available in solid birch or solid oak. Seat and back have a form-pressed birch veneer core and a surface of birch veneer, oak veneer, or fabric or leather upholstery over PU foam padding.

Specifications

• Dimensions: W 58 cm · D 54 cm · H 79 cm
• Stacking: up to four chairs
• Frames listed: birch (clear lacquer, black, honey or walnut stain) and oak (clear lacquer)

For the Domus Academica

Artek's story page says the chair was designed in 1946 for the Helsinki student housing complex Domus Academica. Asked for a multipurpose chair for studying and dining, Tapiovaara developed a stackable chair with a three-dimensionally moulded plywood seat; the page credits the novel production method with a new level of comfort.

Image source: Artek — Domus Chair · © Artek and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy

Shipped in pieces

According to the same story, the chair was delivered from the factory in pieces, with only a couple of screws needed to assemble it, and ten chairs were packed in one cardboard box with the instructions printed on the outside.

Names abroad

The product page says the chair was sold in the United Kingdom as "Staxx" and in North America as the "Finn Chair"; the story page writes "Stax" and "Finnchair" and adds that Knoll distributed it in the US.