When Room&Board released their new Lars Lounge Chair, I thought that maybe I had seen it somewhere before. Of course, it borrows heavily from a handful of classic Mid-20th century designs, and, in this particular case, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s lots of mid century lounge chairs that hit a pretty perfect note of top-notch design and comfort, and often you can find a pair for a decent price (i.e. less than $1k) if you scour eBay and/or resale shops. There’s also a plethora of dodgy manufacturers that copy classic designs outright, and that’s not cool (or so most people think, myself included) because it’s pretty much stealing someone’s work.
In the case of the Lars Lounge, it is a copy, but in a friendly sort of way. I say ‘friendly’ because it borrows several design cues from classics and combines them into a familiar-yet-affordable seating option. Now, I can’t quite pin down what this wooden lounge chair is called* (above, at left in the living room of Solveig Fernlund and Neil Logan’s loft), but it’s the first chair I thought of when recalling what design the Lars most resembled. And, of course, Wegner’s CH28, was the second, which you see side-by-side with the Lars in the images at top and below**.
This isn’t a ‘who wins’ sort of match up, by the way, it’s more of a ‘look at this’ and ‘now, look at this’ and then look at the prices and pick the one you prefer. I think it’s great to see that the best parts of Mid-20th century design aren’t dead, and can be refashioned into a current design that fits today’s lifestyle (and bank account).
Left: CH28 by Hans Wegner (1952), $3,358.00 (now on sale)
Dimensions: 30.3″h x 26.3″d x 28.7″w
Right: Lars Leather Lounge Chair, $1,299.00
Dimensions: 28″h x 31″d x 33″w
*If you know the name of this chair, let me know, because it’s driving me a little crazy. Update: Hooray! It’s the Hunting Chair by Bรธrge Mogensen. Thanks to Sam and Anders for answering.
**Yes, I know, they’re not the same, they’re just similar.
Available from Room & Board / Hivemodern, $1,299.00 - 3,358.00.