Masters

Design Story

Kartell Masters chairs in a hospitality space

Design

The Masters chair by Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitllet for the Italian manufacturer Kartell is a tribute to the "big three", to three famous chair designs from the history of design which served as a template for the two designers: the Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen, the Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen and the side chair by Charles and Ray Eames. The design classics melt into the backrest of the Kartell Masters chair and are thus reinterpreted by Starck and Quitllet. The contours of the three chair backs, when placed on top of each other, result in a backrest made of filigree struts in combination with lots of free space, which gives the Masters chair transparency and lightness. Crafted from through-dyed polyethylene, the multi-purpose chair is suitable for indoor and outdoor use and is available in a range of colours.

Designer

Philippe Starck is one of the most internationally recognised designers and architects. Born in France in 1949, Philippe Starck studied at the École Nissim de Camondo in Paris and established his own studio at the end of the 1970s: becoming quickly famous for his enormously varied designs, be that furniture and lighting designs or industrial and vehicle designs. In context of furniture design, Philippe Starck is best known for his cooperation with the Italian manufacturer Kartell, whose profile he has decisively shaped with numerous exclusive Kartell designs; similarly Masters chair co-designer Eugeni Quitllet has also realised numerous other projects for Kartell. Quitllet studied in Barcelona, is now self-employed in Paris and has developed numerous products for manufacturers such as Alias ​​and Kartell. Philippe Starck and he met in 2001 on Formentera. The Kartell Masters is probably the most famous of numerous collaborations between the two designers and has already received several design awards.

Historical Context

The Masters Chair by Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitllet impresses as a thoroughly contemporary design. With conceptual wit and analytical acumen the two French designers not only delivered an elegant, functional all-purpose chair produced from modern plastics and with the aid of innovative technology, but a work which also reflects design history. Through overlapping silhouettes of three classic chair designs, Starck and Quitllet make transparent the challenges of creating something new within the context of design history, and translate their reflections into an affordable, globally applicable series product, produced purely by machine and therefore accessible to everyone. The Masters chair is not without irony and provocation, which makes it even more distinctive as a genuine Kartell product.

Production

Kartell is the undisputed plastics specialist in the furniture design sector. The Italian company has been experimenting with plastics, innovative technologies and production processes since the 1950s, and through the quality and innovative content of its products is constantly triggering small revolutions in industrial production. Kartell plastics are not only extremely functional, i.e. sustainable, resistant and stable, but also have very special surfaces, an unmistakable feel and are processed in a transparent or unusual and specially coloured way. The Masters chair is also a masterpiece of plastic processing and illustrates the inexhaustible possibilities of the material: the filigree design impresses with absolute stability, is available in various elegant colours and as the Masters Metallic as a metallized, modified polypropylene chair which closely resembles a cast metal chair.

Manufacturer

The Italian furniture manufacturer Kartell has long been a pioneer when it comes to plastic furniture designs. Established in 1949 with a focus on the production of plastic parts for automobile production, over time, the product range was expanded to include household utensils, laboratory equipment and, from the 1960s, furniture and lighting designs. Kartell has been developing designer furniture made of plastic for over 50 years in collaboration with well-known designers such as Philippe Starck, Maarten Van Severen and Michele de Lucchi, a programme into which the Masters chair by Philippe Starck and Eugeni Quitllet fits perfectly, combining as it does design history, contemporary conceptual design and innovative production processes in a functional multi-purpose chair made of contemporary plastic. And that as a work it is not just functional, but reflects an artistic independence is characteristic for Kartell furniture, which are defined by their individual character and unique design solutions.