Zaha Hadid Z Chair

Zaha Hadid left an indelible mark on the architectural world, transforming the look of contemporary architecture with her striking abstract and modernist designs. Fluid forms and Constructivist aesthetics — such as bold colors and softly angular edges — are the keynotes of her buildings and her furniture. Hadid’s work is the essence of energy and drama.

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Hadid studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and made that city her home for much of her life. Hadid’s design sensibility was formed more by art than architecture. In college, she was first inspired by the Russian avant-garde school of artists. The influence of painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich is apparent in Hadid’s early work, in which she created abstract paintings and drawings to convey her ideas. The distortion of geometric shapes is a particularly prominent and recurring theme in her work. Hadid founded her firm in 1980, from which she launched architectural triumphs like the MAXXI Museum in Rome and the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center.

Hadid’s furniture and sculptures provide her admirers with the chance to bring the beauty and drama of her architecture into their homes. These designs are true centerpieces that fill even staid rooms with fluidity and rhythm. The organic forms of her designs bring a sweeping sense of movement to stationary objects. The furniture exhibits a kind of playfulness and creates a relationship with the user. Hadid transformed furniture into fine art.

Find authentic Zaha Hadid tables, lighting and other works on 1stDibs.

Chairs are an indispensable component of your home and office. Can you imagine your life without the vintage, new or antique chairs you love?

With the exception of rocking chairs, the majority of the seating in our homes today — Windsor chairs, chaise longues, wingback chairs — originated in either England or France. Art Nouveau chairs, the style of which also originated in those regions, embraced the inherent magnificence of the natural world with decorative flourishes and refined designs that blended both curved and geometric contour lines. While craftsmanship and styles have evolved in the past century, chairs have had a singular significance in our lives, no matter what your favorite chair looks like.

“The chair is the piece of furniture that is closest to human beings,” said Hans Wegner. The revered Danish cabinetmaker and furniture designer was prolific, having designed nearly 500 chairs over the course of his lifetime. His beloved designs include the Wishbone chair, the wingback Papa Bear chair and many more.

Other designers of Scandinavian modernist chairs introduced new dynamics to this staple with sculptural flowing lines, curvaceous shapes and efficient functionality. The Paimio armchair, Swan chair and Panton chair are vintage works of Finnish and Danish seating that left an indelible mark on the history of good furniture design.

“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts,” said Ray Eames. 

Visionary polymaths Ray and Charles Eames experimented with bent plywood and fiberglass with the goal of producing affordable furniture for a mass market. Like other celebrated mid-century modern furniture designers of elegant low-profile furnishings — among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Finn Juhl — the Eameses considered ergonomic support, durability and cost, all of which should be top of mind when shopping for the perfect chair. The mid-century years yielded many popular chairs.

The Eameses introduced numerous icons for manufacturer Herman Miller, such as the Eames lounge chair and ottoman, molded plywood dining chairs the DCM and DCW (which can be artfully mismatched around your dining table) and a wealth of other treasured pieces for the home and office. 

A good chair anchors us to a place and can become an object of timeless appeal. Take a seat and browse the rich variety of vintage, new and antique chairs on 1stDibs today.