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The 45 angle of the 'ZigZag' chair's cantilever can be seen as a response to Theo van Doesburg's call in 1924 for the introduction of "oblique" lines to resolve the tension between vertical and horizontal elements.
The Zig-Zag chair was designed for Rietveld's Schröder house (open to the public) in Utrecht, Holland, revealing his expression of De Stijl and Modernist design principles. He described it as a "designer's joke", but its minimalist design is misleading distracting the viewer from its highly detailed construction, whose complexity is only evident at second glance. It is a masterful visual object for lovers of fine craftsmanship and excellent design.
Four unobstructed and unadorned elements offers a stark assertion of function and visual simplicity. The back is connected to the seat with dovetail joinery. The other two joints are secured with nuts and bolts through triangular corner blocks.
This remarkably stark design consists of only four rectangular sections. The seat and back have been dovetailed together, and the seat and base reinforced with two triangular wedges. The brass nuts and bolts holding these wedges together represent one of the few times in De Stijl design where the hardware became part of the overall decoration. This system of joining belies the complex construction of the piece: the nuts and bolts must pass through each of the panels to produce the necessary strength for the cantilevered structure.
lacquered elm or natural oak construction with brass fittings.
W:38 x D:40 x H:75, SH:44 cm (W:14 x D:19 x H:29").
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