Knoll Jonathan Olivares Aluminum Stacking Chair

Jonathan Olivares approached the initial product design phase for this outdoor chair with an objective, and not surprisingly taxonomic survey of the category: which ones were too heavy; which were too light; how comfortable were they; how were they produced; and of course, how were they to interact with, to sit with, to live with.

After a series of experiments with hydro-forming, stamping, and other means of manipulating metal, Olivares and team posed a hypothesis: what if we could cast this chair in a single piece of material — not only for ergonomic comfort, but to reduce cost and make the chair as thin as feasible. Ultimately it was the aluminum supplier that suggested this might work.

The final chair is composed of a die-cast aluminum body-contoured shell and extruded aluminum legs; plastic connections tie the pieces together and allow the chairs to stack neatly without scratching. The entire form is powder coated with a durable matte finish.

The Olivares chair brings a refined, sculptural presence to indoor and outdoor environments alike. The gracefully contoured form is carefully shaped to offer maximum comfort and the die cast aluminum shell is available in a palette of bright, contemporary colours.

MEASUREMENTS:

• Height: 81.2 cm / 32 inch


• Width: 56.6 cm / 22.3 inch


• Depth: 53.8 cm / 21.2 inch


• Seat Height: 44.4 cm / 17.5 inch

MATERIALS:

• Die-Cast Aluminum with Integrated Leg Tenons

HELPFUL NOTES:

• Outdoor use: With proper preventative maintenance, the Olivares chair is appropriate for outdoor environments


• Shell is constructed of die-cast aluminum with outdoor powder coat paint


• Chairs stack 6 high on the floor and 10 high on optional dolly


• Stacking bumper distributes the chair’s weight over a wide area


• Designer’s signature and the KnollStudio logo are located under the seat


• Nylon glides included


• Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified®

Jonathan Olivares

England, 1981

Jonathan Olivares was born in Boston in 1981 and graduated from Pratt Institute. In 2006 he established Jonathan Olivares Design Research (JODR), an office based in Los Angeles that works in the fields of industrial, spatial and communication design. The office employs a team of two designers and one writer, and collaborates with graphic designers, digital media developers, researchers, architects and filmmakers on a project-by-project basis.

Clients of the office include Knoll, Nike and Vitra. Recent projects include the exhibition Source Material, curated with Jasper Morrison and Marco Velardi (2014); the website A View on Natural Motion, for Nike (2014); the Olivares Aluminum Chair, for Knoll (2012); and the book A Taxonomy of Office Chairs, published by Phaidon Press (2011). The office's work has been published internationally, granted several design awards—including Italy’s Compasso d'Oro—and supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts through two grants.

Olivares's work engages a legacy of form and technology, and asks to be used rather than observed. The quarterly art and culture magazine Kaleidoscope wrote of him: “Aesthetically, his works seldom resort to fanfare, privileging use-value and tenderness over showmanship. His slow-and-steady style, combined with his personal resolve, produces humble results worth looking out for.” In her review of A Taxonomy of Office Chairs, published in the International Herald Tribune, the design critic Alice Rawsthorn wrote: "You'll never look at an office chair in quite the same way again."

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