Why a ball, bubble, and egg chair gallery?
Well why not a ball, bubble, and egg chair gallery? I'm fairy sure this is the only one on the Web. I've always been fan of classic modern design. However, it wasn't until recently I became enamoured with the later 60's and 70's era plastics. I started to create a living room in my mind. The perfect space-age milkbar retro lounge. I figured anything I remembered from childhood couldn't be that expensive. But I soon found out I was wrong. Not only do the designs look like they're from outer space, the prices are, as well. A vintage or modern reproduction ball chair or egg chair costs about $3000.00 and up. Quite a bit for, you know, a plastic chair. So until I find that dusty forgotten piece in the back of some thrift store for $100, I've decided to be happy with this gallery. I've included a few examples of ball and egg-shaped 70's electronics - because they're just so cool.

I've made an effort to give credit to the sources of these images when possible.
Others are scanned from old print sources or were found at online auction sites. If you have any images to add to the gallery, If you have a web site, make sure to include the URL or other URL I should credit.


History : By using one of the most simple geometric forms - the ball - cutting of a part and fixing it at one point Eero Aarnio comes to a remarkable result - a completely unconventional shaped chair: a "room within a room" with a cozy and calm atmosphere, protecting outside noises and giving a private space for relaxing or having a phone call Turning around its own axis on the base the view to the outer space is variable for the user and thus he is not completely excluded from world outside. The designer says "The idea of the chair was very obvious. We had moved to our first home and I had started my freelance career in 1962. We had a home but no proper big chair, so I decided to make one, but some way a really new one. After some drawing I noticed that the shape of the chair had become so simple that it was merely a ball. I pinned the full scale drawing on the wall and 'sat' in the chair to see how my head would move when sitting inside it. Being the taller one of us I 'sat' in the chair and my wife drew the course of my head on the wall. This is how I determined the height of the chair. Since I aimed at a ball shape, the other lines were easy to draw, just remembering that the chair would have to fit through a doorway. After this I made the first prototype myself using an inside mould, which has been made using the same principle as a glider fuselage or wing. I covered the plywood body mould with wet paper and laminated the surface with fiberglass, rubbed down the outside, removed the mould from inside, had it upholstered and added the leg. In the end I installed the red telephone on the inside wall of the chair. The naming part of the chair was easy, the BALL CHAIR was born." The result was great. It was the birth of one of the most remarkable chairs in the furniture history of the 20th century. This first hand made piece is still standing in Eero's house. It was this first Ball Chair two young managers from the company Asko discovered when visiting Eero to see some pine wood designs. They were immediately impressed and convinced of the phenomenal design. It took a few years to get the chair into production. 1966 the Ball Chair was presented at the international furniture fair in Cologne. It was the sensation of the fair, the international breakthrough for Eero Aarnio and the start for a whole line of fibreglass designs by Aarnio- including the clear acrylic bubble chair in 1968:

"After I had made the Ball Chair I wanted to have the light inside it and so I had the idea of a transparent ball where light comes from all directions. The only suitable material is acrylic which is heated and blown into shape like a soap bubble. Since I knew that the dome-shaped skylights are made in this way I contacted the manufacturer and asked if it would be technically possible to blow a bubble that is bigger than a hemisphere. The answer was yes. I had a steel ring made, the bubble was blown and cushions were added and the chair was ready. And again the name was obvious: BUBBLE."

There is no nice way to make a clear pedestal' Eero Aarnio notes. That is the lucky reason why the Bubble hangs from the ceiling. Like the Ball Chair the Bubble Chair also impresses the user by the special acoustic. The Bubble swallows the sounds and you feel isolated inside in a pleasant way, even when you are in a crowded place. The Norwegian phone company Telenor has installed some Bubble Chairs in the entrance hall of their new building in Oslo to offer calm "rooms" for mobile phoning.

The more elongated "Egg" or "Pod" chair was originally designed by Thor Larsen and dubbed the "Ovalia chair. " It was subsequently copied by various companies in America (usually including the stereo speakers.)

On to the Ball, Bubble, and Egg Chair Gallery >>>
Each of the thumbnails may be clicked to enlarge

Note: I do not sell these chairs or any other furniture.
See the Where to buy page .

Note: I do not sell these chairs or any other furniture.
See the Where to buy page .

weblog contact .
On to the Ball, Bubble, and Egg Chair Gallery >>>
Each of the thumbnails may be clicked to enlarge