Magis Chair One by Konstantin Grcic

Founded in 1976 in the bustling north eastern corner of Italy by a newcomer to the furniture business, Eugenio Perazza, Magis is today a giant international design laboratory that constantly puts itself to the test, seeking technological sophistication and employing a highly diversified workforce. Magis seizes the day. It embraces the creativity of leading global designers (Richard Sapper, Jasper Morrison, Stefano Giovannoni, Marc Newson, Konstantin Grcic, Ron Arad, the Bouroullecs, Robin Day, Pierre Paulin, Jerszy Seymour, Naoto Fukasawa, Thomas Heatherwick and many others) and channels it towards objects perched on the cutting edge.
The company even earned kudos from the trendsetter’s bible, Wallpaper, which placed Perazza on top of its list of “Ten who will change the way we live”.

Magis is a Factory-free organization: in order to enhance the flexibility of its R&D activities, the company opted to outsource its manufacturing and relies on a local area teeming with skilled contractors.

Magis and plastic

Until a short while ago Magis was one of the few companies that manufactured objects in plastic. Today the number has increased considerably. Still, Magis uses the most advanced moulding technologies and techniques; it was the first company in the world to apply air moulding to aesthetical goods. Plastic will remain Magis’ reference material, although it is now experimenting with others such as die-cast aluminium, aluminium metal sheet and wood.

Magis and designers

Magis works with very well-known designers, but it has always been open to work with young designers, even at the outset of their careers. Jean-Marie Massaud and Jerszy Seymour made their debut on the design scene thanks to the opportunities Magis gave them. Now Magis discovers new passions and punctually chases former design glories, adding them to the mix. There was the interlude with Charlotte Perriand, and new design chapters are being written with Robin Day, a genius of English design, Eero Aarnio, a genius of Finnish design and Pierre Paulin, a genius of French design.

The Chair_One by Konstantin Grcic

Presented and builted in 2003, the Chair_One is a stacking chair completely in die-cast aluminium, available for interior and exterior spaces.

Destined to be an istant classic, the french magazine “L’Express Mag” define the Chair_One one of 21 design’s icons of our age.

Konstantin Grcic explain the project concept: “Chair_One is constructed just like a football: a number of flat planes assembled at angles to each other, creating the three-dimensional form. I think my approach was a mixture of naivety and bluntness. Given the chance to work with aluminium casting I thought that I should take it all the way. The more we worked on the models the more we learnt to understand the structural logic behind what we were doing”.

Chair_One awards

2003 | Selection for the 100% Design/ Blueprint Award - London

2004 | Award for Good Design – Chicago Athenaeum

2004 | Selection for ADI Design Index – Milan

2005 | Premio Oderzo Azienda e Design

2006 | Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2006 Silber

Chair_One in the museums

2004 | Collezione Storica COMPASSO D’ORO – Milano

2006 | MOCA – Museum of Contemporary Art – Zurich

2006 | MUSEO DEL DESIGN ITALIANO – Fondazione Anna Querci- Calenzano (Firenze)

2007 | VICTORIA and ALBERT MUSEUM – London

2007 | TRIENNALE DESIGN MUSEUM – Milan (1st Edition)