Chair, Model BD:1, birch, high-density foam and black cotton upholstery. Designed by Björn Dahlström, 1994, manufactured by cbi, Sweden, 1997.

Chair with one piece seat and back formed out of high-density foam block covered with black cotton upholstery. Four birch legs.

Given by CBI / Klara ab

The BD:1 chair was launched at the Milan Furniture Fair in 1995. It was the first in a series of related seating designs executed by Björn Dahlström for cbi between 1994-1996.

This example was lent to the V&A by the manufacturer, cbi, for inclusion in the display "...not so simple", April to October 1997. Following the exhibition cbi gave it to the museum for the permanent collection. It was acquired as an example of contemporary Swedish design to complement the Museum's collection of 1990s production furniture.

Conversation between Christian Springfeldt of Klara/cbi and Rebecca Milner, Curatorial Assistant, FWK dept, 4/5/01 - chairs are still in production and available in 73 different colours although black most popular - 90% of those sold are upholstered in black fabric. Approx 100 chairs are made to order per year. Skandium in Wigmore Street are the UK agents for this chair.

Historical significance: The BD:1 chair expresses the characteristics of a particular strand of contemporary design, namely, the reduction of form and decoration to minimal elements without recourse to functional aesthetics. The one piece seat and back retain a quality of lightness and grace, despite the extreme thickness of the upholstered block. Dahlström worked as a graphic artist and animator before moving into industrial and furniture design. Many of his designs have a graphic, cartoon like quality. The small wooden feet of the BD:1 give it a non-specific zoomorphic quality and endow it with a humorous quality.

Contemporary Swedish design is not generally radical in that it builds upon, rather than rejects Nordic traditions of furniture construction and function. The use of wood and natural fabrics is prevalent. Cbi is a small independent manufacturer specialising in simple, rational, high quality objects for the home. By rejecting over-consumerist values of styling and decoration, the manufacturer hopes to resist the drive for comsumption inherent in industrial production. Cbi products are designed to be long lasting, both through the use of materials and their aesthetics.

Swedish manufacturers and retailers have become influential internationally in recent years, popularising restraint and lightness of touch often associated with the British designer Jasper Morrison. Morrison's influence is apparent in the products made by cbi, and in the catalogue of the Swedish furniture mega-store, Ikea. The BD:1 chair helps to demonstrate the cross-fertilisation of international design and represents the trend towards reductive design blended with zoomorphic humour.

Reason For Production: Retail

Björn Dahlström is an established Swedish furniture and product designer. This little chair was the first of a series of related seating he designed for the small independent Swedish manufacturer CBI between 1994 and 1996. He asked himself how narrow a seat could be before it became uncomfortable, but balanced the narrowness of the upholstery by exaggerating its thickness beyond what was functionally necessary. The result has a clear, graphic quality, like an enlarged comma. It is a simplified form, but its minimalism is softened by the volume of the comfortable upholstery. The low centre of gravity, together with the stout little birch legs that seem almost too close together, help to give an abstracted zoomorphic character to the chair, like a cartoon rendering of a baby elephant or hippo, perhaps! This is a gentle kind of modern design, using natural materials and a little wit, that is frequently found in contemporary Swedish design. During the 1990s, when Dahlström designed this chair, Swedish design found new popularity and influence internationally.

W.16-1997