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Konstantin Grcic’s Suspension-Based Citizen Chair for Vitra

A breath of fresh air: Konstantin Grcic has not only designed a new type of chair, but has cited his inspirations and departure points for it. The gulf between the inspiration source and Grcic’s final design reveals his talent.

First off, his dual inspirations: Grupo Austral’s B.K.F Chair, a/k/a the Butterfly Chair, from 1938…

…and Finnish designer Yrjö Kukkapuro’s swiveling Karuselli chair from 1965.

You’ll notice both chairs are essentially suspended from their structures. His attention captured by this idea, Grcic put his own spin on it with his Citizen chair, developed for Vitra:

“The seat of the Citizen chair is suspended on three cables affixed to a steel frame to facilitate a swinging movement in all directions. The semicircular contour of the fixed backrest ergonomically envelops the upper body, preventing the sitter from slouching down in the armchair, and the cantilever structural frame of Citizen is mounted on a swivel base for additional flexibility.

"Citizen is available in two versions: Citizen Highback and Citizen Lowback. The upholstery covers can be selected from a range of materials.”

Arriving at his final design took “many years,” Grcic says. “For me it was a very enriching experience to devote so much time and attention to the development of a single idea.”