2010s Set of Eight Philippe Starck Emeco Hudson Polished Aluminum Dining Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Philippe Starck (Designer),Emeco (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)
- Style:Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:2010-
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Philadelphia, PA
- Reference Number:
Philippe Starck
A ubiquitous name in the world of contemporary architecture and design, Philippe Starck has created everything from hotel interiors and luxury yachts to toothbrushes and teakettles. Yet for every project in his diverse portfolio, Starck has maintained an instantly recognizable signature style: a look that is dynamic, sleek, fluid and witty.
The son of an aircraft engineer, Starck studied interior design at the École Nissim de Camondo in Paris. He started his design career in the 1970s decorating nightclubs in the city, and his reputation for spirited and original interiors earned him a commission in 1983 from French president François Mitterrand to design the private apartments of the Élysée Palace. Starck made his name internationally in 1988 with his design for the interiors of the Royalton Hotel in New York, a strikingly novel environment featuring jewel-toned carpeting and upholstery and furnishings with organically shaped cast-aluminum frames. He followed that up in 1990 with an equally impressive redesign of the Paramount Hotel in Manhattan, a project that featured over-scaled furniture as well as headboards that mimicked Old Masters paintings.
Like their designer, furniture pieces by Starck seem to enjoy attention. Designs such as the wedge-shaped J Series club chair; the sweeping molded-mahogany Costes chair; the provocative Ara table lamp; or the sinuous WW stool never fail to raise eyebrows. Other Starck pieces make winking postmodern references to historical designs. His polycarbonate Louis Ghost armchair puts a new twist on Louis XVI furniture; his Out-In chair offers a futuristic take on the classic English high-back chair. But for all his flair, Starck maintains a populist vision of design. While one of his limited-edition Prince de Fribourg et Treyer armchairs might be priced at $7,000, a plastic Starck chair for the Italian firm Kartell is available for around $250. As you will see on 1stDibs, Philippe Starck’s furniture makes a bold statement — and it can add a welcome bit of humor to even the most traditional decor.
Emeco
While they’re best known for their revolutionary Navy chair, iconic American furniture company Emeco makes a whole range of seating and other furniture — not just seaworthy chairs. The development of each product is guided by an eco-friendly ethos and pragmatic approach to design.
Emeco began to take shape during the 1940s, when the U.S. Navy needed a lightweight, fireproof chair that could withstand a torpedo blast and hold up to use by “big, burly sailors,” says Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco’s chief executive.
With experts from the Aluminum Company of America, an engineer named Wilton C. Dinges (1916–74) delivered, and the Emeco 1006 — that is, the Navy chair — an aluminum classic, was born. In order to demonstrate the chair’s sturdiness, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, and when it landed, the chair bounced in lieu of breaking or bending.
The engineer secured a contract to manufacture the Navy chair beginning in 1944 at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco), which he’d founded a few years earlier in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing decades, the factory’s craftsmen would stamp out by hand hundreds of thousands of Navy chairs for battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines — a process that requires more than 70 steps.
Today, the impossibly durable Navy chair, which is recyclable and made of at least 80 percent recycled aluminum, inspires knockoffs left and right and can be found in a variety of public settings, from upscale restaurants to hotels and offices. But it took time to get here.
In 1979, Gregg’s father, Jay Buchbinder, a businessman whose Long Beach, California, furniture company manufactured seating for fast food restaurants, purchased Emeco. The company hit a rough patch in the 1990s. When Gregg acquired Emeco from Jay in 1998, he took the $2 million in debt that came along with it. Fortuitously, Gregg learned that the Navy chair had taken on a new nonmilitary identity around the same time and that it was increasingly seen as sleek and retro in addition to being great submarine seating. Orders for the Navy chair were coming in from design luminaries like Ettore Sottsass, Giorgio Armani and a daring young French designer named Philippe Starck, who purchased a large number of 1006s for Ian Schrager’s Paramount hotel in New York City.
Gregg seized on Emeco’s newfound popularity, initiating a partnership with Starck, who would design the company’s Hudson Collection, a line planned for Manhattan’s Hudson Hotel that saw the Navy chair take on the form of a barstool and other pieces. He also partnered with Frank Gehry, whose Superlight chair for Emeco can be hoisted off the ground with one hand. Collaborations with Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel and others followed, and today, Emeco continues to build durable seating furniture from a range of recycled materials with a variety of designers.
Find authentic Emeco chairs, stools, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Lebanon, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- 2010s Emeco Navy Bar Height Stool in Brushed Aluminum, Model 1006 10+ AvailableBy EmecoLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is an original Emeco bar stool, Model 1006. This design was originally created in 1944 for the US Navy. While this listing is for a single stool, ...Category
2010s American Modern Stools
MaterialsAluminum
- 2010s Emeco 1951 Red Counter Stool by Adrian van Hooydonk and BMW DesignworksBy EmecoLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a single (multiple stools are available, but the price listed is for each stool) 1951 series counter stool, designed by Adrian van Hooydonk from BMW Designworks. T...Category
Vintage 1950s American Modern Stools
MaterialsAluminum
- Set of Three Emeco 1951 Bar Stools by Adrian van Hooydonk and BMW DesignworksBy Emeco, Adrian Van HooydonkLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a set of three 1951 series bar stools, designed by Adrian van Hooydonk from BMW Designworks. This is a phenomenal design, which was a reinterpretation and reintrod...Category
Vintage 1950s American Modern Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- 2010s Fabien Baron for Bernhardt Design B.3 White Leather Lounge Chair with ArmsBy Bernhardt DesignLocated in Philadelphia, PAListed for sale is a single Fabien Baron for Bernhardt Design B.3 lounge chair with arms in white leather. This chair was produced circa mid 2010s and has been lightly used. It's in ...Category
2010s American Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- 1988 Pair of Philippe Starck for Driade Royalton Arm ChairsBy Philippe Starck, DriadeLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is a pair of Royalton Armchairs, designed by Philippe Starck, and produced by Driade shortly after the design's introduction in 1988. In the late 1980s, Starck was approached by...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum, Steel
- 2010s Herman Miller Eames Aluminum Group Lounge Chair and Ottoman Tan LeatherBy Charles and Ray Eames, Herman MillerLocated in Philadelphia, PAThis is an Eames Aluminum Group Lounge Chair & Ottoman in tan leather. Two sets are available, though the price listed is for each set. The set is in very good to excellent condition...Category
2010s American Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Armchair in Polished Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Emeco, Philippe StarckLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the Navy Chair”. It takes an addi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Rocking Chair with Arms in Polished Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Emeco, Philippe StarckLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the Navy Chair”. It takes an addi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Chair in Polished Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Philippe Starck, EmecoLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the N...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Armchair in Brushed Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Emeco, Philippe StarckLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the Navy Chair”. It takes an addi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Rocking Chair with Arms in Brushed Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Emeco, Philippe StarckLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the Navy Chair”. It takes an addi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Hudson Rocking Chair in Polished Aluminum by Philippe StarckBy Philippe Starck, EmecoLocated in Hanover, PAThe Hudson, designed for the Hudson hotel in NYC, is Emeco and Starck’s first collaboration. Starck described the chair as “washing the details from the Navy Chair”. It takes an addi...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Rocking Chairs
MaterialsAluminum