Zographos Bucket Chair

Industrial designer Nicos Zographos is renowned as a mid-century modern master. His abstract structures and minimalist forms helped elevate 20th-century furniture design.

Born in Athens, Greece, in 1931, Zographos completed his graduate degree at the University of Iowa before joining the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1957.

He worked in SOM’s interior design department, where he enjoyed unlimited creative freedom, resulting in the design of two critically acclaimed pieces. The fluid Ribbon chair, which he created in 1959, is an interpretation of the Barcelona chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Alpha bucket chair, featuring Zographos’s signature reverse curl, was designed in 1960. Also while at SOM, Zographos developed a suite of TA35 low tables, which have gentle curves and slim stainless steel legs.

Zographos spent five years at SOM before he formed his own company, Zographos Designs Limited, in 1964. The New York-based firm manufactured elegant, polished and streamlined pieces such as lounge chairs, office chairs, side tables, coffee tables and dining room tables. Several of his furnishings have been included in interiors by such revered architects as Gordon Bunshaft and I.M. Pei.

Among Zographos’s most iconic designs are the wood-carved Ireland chair, the wooden Saronis tables and his two tubular-steel cantilevered chairs: the solid CH17 chair and the CH66 chair, which he designed in 1966. It is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Zographos has retired to his native Greece, and Zographos Designs Limited recently closed after 56 years in business. His pieces continue to be highly sought by interior designers and avid vintage furniture collectors.

On 1stDibs, find a range of vintage Nicos Zographos seating and tables.

An essential part of every office or home workstation, office chairs and desk chairs are critically important to your comfort and getting the job done.

Desk chairs have evolved over time. While writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson pined for a wider range of motion and introduced some improvements to his English-style Windsor chair, inventing the swivel chair along the way. So the next time you roll, recline or swivel at your vintage desk, remember: The third president of the United States had a lot to do with that functionality.

Changes in the availability of resources have also led to innovations in desk chair design. After World War II, for example, optimistic American designers made use of wartime materials in their efforts to create practical domestic goods.

Mid-century modernism is the name given to the broad postwar time period that prioritized thoughtful design. Journalist Cara Greenberg, who coined the term “mid-century modernism,” cites “ergonomic wisdom” as part of the reason for the longevity of the era’s furnishings, and when it comes to sitting in a desk chair for hours at a time, what could be more important than ergonomic support?

As mid-century modernism was marked by resourcefulness and boundless creativity — and produced designers who, in most cases, prioritized comfort and support — it follows that all mid-century chairs are not the same. Nowhere is this perhaps more evident than at Herman Miller. The legendary Michigan furniture manufacturer got its start in the office, with design director George Nelson enlisting the likes of Charles and Ray Eames to produce desk chairs and lounge chairs that are still celebrated today. Elsewhere at the time, the numerous pieces Florence Knoll created for Knoll’s office furniture line were envisioned as design solutions for the changing needs of residential and office spaces.

If you’re working remotely and streamlined seating isn’t your thing, don’t be afraid of making a statement with your office chair. Introduce a touch of drama to your video calls by way of 19th-century desk accessories and the alluring forms we typically associate with antique desk chairs designed in the Empire and Regency styles. For a minimalist touch, a spare, utilitarian Industrial-style office chair can work in any space but will fit in particularly well amid the exposed brick and steel architecture that characterizes a loft apartment.

An inspiring home office cleverly mixes materials and styles to create a welcoming place of productivity and comfort, and if you’re gathering with colleagues at your company HQ, an array of wood, leather and metal office chairs can help integrate disparate textures in a conference room or any other collaborative space. On 1stDibs, explore a diverse collection of office and desk chairs today.