English; 1968; David Colwell; moulded acrylic

Black nylon-coated steel frame with dark grey acrylic shell clipped in.
The shell of the chair is made from a square acrylic sheet clamped to a manufacturing frame. The sheet is softened in an air oven at approximately 165 degrees centigrade. A pneumatic ram with a small rectangular plate is pressed into the sheet, leaving the shape visible in the lowest point of the seat. The re-formed sheet is then hand stretched to fit onto the metal frame and attached with clips. This process leaves the original surface undisturbed, so that no finishing is required (which would be needed in a chair moulded in a former). The compound curves – forming seat, back and armrests – produce an exceptionally strong seating membrane. Unlike most plastic chairs the edge is flat and does not curve round the frame. The shell rests on a steel-rod frame which is made of one trapezoid shape for the back, and a rectangle for the seat connected to front legs which extend into a trapezoid form open at the front as base. The individual frame elements are welded together and also clamped along the bottom and top edges of the seat and also along the base where the two frame elements meet. The seat is held to the frame by the three clamps along the seat edges. Those steel clamps are welded to the frame (the back one concealing a weld in the frame).

The chair was developed during the late 1967-68 and first shown at the '68 RCA Degree show. The chair was the result of a two year involvement with ICI Plastics for whom Colwell also designed a reception desk and a number of jewellery showcases lit by fibre optics. All objects explored free forming Perspex sheet without moulds. Rectangular shapes were plunged into hot acrylic sheet, self-creating subtle contours whilst increasing strength and preserving optical clarity due to the absence of mould contact. Mouldless forming meant that Colwell could produce impressive designs without prohibited tooling costs.
The chair was produced in a clear, smoke (like this one) and blue acrylic shell. the design received the RCA Silver Medal as well as the ICI Perspex Design Award. To celebrate his company (Trannon) 30th anniversary, Colwell released a limited run of the Contour chair in 2008.

Description of Craftsman from Hollis, R. 1970. Modern Chairs:1918-1970. The Whitechapel Art Gallery, London:
Industrial designer, born 1944. Trained at the Royal College of Art. Own office from 1968, London; consultant, ICI Plastics Division. Range of objects designed has included chairs and light fittings. Work exhibited Prospex 68 and Décor International London 1968.

This chair is designed so that the frames and shells stack separately. Although the chair is meant for relaxed sitting in both domestic and commercial environments, it also functions outdoors, garden or poolside, since it is completely weatherproof.

As a consultant for ICI Plastic Division, Colwell designed this chair to capitalize on the properties of acrylic. The bubble-like seat was produced by firing a pneumatic ram into a heated sheet of acrylic and allowing it to cool. Plastic helped create the fashionable futuristic space-age interiors of the day and clear plastic was also used for inflatable furniture, most famously the Blow chair from Italy. The Contour chair was not mass-produced in great numbers.

Pop design celebrated the use of new materials and unusual, sometimes improbable forms. Furniture was to be fun, mobile and in most cases ultimately disposable.

Attribution note: small production

In 1926 the modernist designer Marcel Breuer predicted that in the future it would be possible to sit on air, a prediction suggestively fulfilled by David Colwell's transparent Contour Chair. As a consultant for ICI Plastic Division, Colwell designed it to capitalise on the properties of acrylic. The bubble-like seat was produced by firing a pneumatic ram into a heated sheet of acrylic and allowing it to cool.

Plastic helped create the fashionable futuristic space-age interiors of the day, and clear plastic was also used for inflatable furniture. The most famous example was the Blow chair from Italy, which literally used air pressure to support its sitter. The Contour chair was not produced in great numbers but is a good example of Pop design from the late 1960s that celebrated the use of new materials and unusual, sometimes improbable, forms. Furniture was to be fun, mobile and in most cases ultimately disposable.

CIRC.64-1970