HD3D0002: FLER Furniture

The chair I will be using for my HD3D0002 project is an original FLER TVS chair, designed in 1957 by Australian furniture company FLER.

Fler TVS

As mentioned in an earlier post, I bought the chair on eBay for $50. The chair is actually in better condition than I'd expected. The finish on the wooden arms is slightly damaged, but the wood itself is in good condition. The tube metal is in good condition, and the only real problem with the chair are the seat back, seat cushion and springs (which is to be expected in a 60 plus year old chair!).

At this stage my concept for my chair design is to consider how this chair might have been designed - if it was designed today. 

I consider the TVS to be a sort of occasional chair - it could not serve any purpose as a dining chair or office chair - the angle of the seat and seat back are too sloped, making it almost impossible to use the chair at a table. Not to mention the arms would never fit under a standard table height. Clearly the design of occasional chairs in 2011 has changed considerably since 1957.

Other FLER chair designs

FLER Furniture

FLER Furniture was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 1945 by two young Jewish migrants, Fred Lowen and Ernest Rodeck, who fled to Australia together during the war. The original FLER factory was a modest horse stable in Richmond.

Encouraged by well known Australian furniture designer Fredrick Ward, FLER designed many pieces of furniture for Australian department store Myer during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The duo designed furniture using Australian materials (particularly wood) in modern styles influenced by those from Sweden, moving away from heavy English furniture design. By the mid 1960s, FLER had factories in every state of Australia.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Lowen

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/simpleSearch.aspx?authority=name&ID=69371

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/hindsight/stories/2011/3144474.htm