Emeco Armchair in Dark Aluminum & Bordeaux by Jasper Morrison
About the Item
- Creator:Emeco (Manufacturer),Jasper Morrison (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30.8 in (78.24 cm)Width: 25.2 in (64.01 cm)Depth: 19.4 in (49.28 cm)
- Style:Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Contemporary
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:9-10 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Hanover, PA
- Reference Number:
Emeco
While they’re best known for their revolutionary Navy chair, iconic American furniture company Emeco makes a whole range of seating and other furniture — not just seaworthy chairs. The development of each product is guided by an eco-friendly ethos and pragmatic approach to design.
Emeco began to take shape during the 1940s, when the U.S. Navy needed a lightweight, fireproof chair that could withstand a torpedo blast and hold up to use by “big, burly sailors,” says Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco’s chief executive.
With experts from the Aluminum Company of America, an engineer named Wilton C. Dinges (1916–74) delivered, and the Emeco 1006 — that is, the Navy chair — an aluminum classic, was born. In order to demonstrate the chair’s sturdiness, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, and when it landed, the chair bounced in lieu of breaking or bending.
The engineer secured a contract to manufacture the Navy chair beginning in 1944 at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco), which he’d founded a few years earlier in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing decades, the factory’s craftsmen would stamp out by hand hundreds of thousands of Navy chairs for battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines — a process that requires more than 70 steps.
Today, the impossibly durable Navy chair, which is recyclable and made of at least 80 percent recycled aluminum, inspires knockoffs left and right and can be found in a variety of public settings, from upscale restaurants to hotels and offices. But it took time to get here.
In 1979, Gregg’s father, Jay Buchbinder, a businessman whose Long Beach, California, furniture company manufactured seating for fast food restaurants, purchased Emeco. The company hit a rough patch in the 1990s. When Gregg acquired Emeco from Jay in 1998, he took the $2 million in debt that came along with it. Fortuitously, Gregg learned that the Navy chair had taken on a new nonmilitary identity around the same time and that it was increasingly seen as sleek and retro in addition to being great submarine seating. Orders for the Navy chair were coming in from design luminaries like Ettore Sottsass, Giorgio Armani and a daring young French designer named Philippe Starck, who purchased a large number of 1006s for Ian Schrager’s Paramount hotel in New York City.
Gregg seized on Emeco’s newfound popularity, initiating a partnership with Starck, who would design the company’s Hudson Collection, a line planned for Manhattan’s Hudson Hotel that saw the Navy chair take on the form of a barstool and other pieces. He also partnered with Frank Gehry, whose Superlight chair for Emeco can be hoisted off the ground with one hand. Collaborations with Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel and others followed, and today, Emeco continues to build durable seating furniture from a range of recycled materials with a variety of designers.
Find authentic Emeco chairs, stools, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Hanover, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Emeco 1 Inch Armchair in Brushed Aluminum and Bordeaux by Jasper MorrisonBy Emeco, Jasper MorrisonLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco 1 Inch Stacking Chair in Dark Aluminum and Bordeaux by Jasper MorrisonBy Emeco, Jasper MorrisonLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Armchair in Dark Aluminum & Red Ochre by Jasper MorrisonBy Jasper Morrison, EmecoLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco 1 Inch Armchair in Dark Powder-Coated Aluminum & Brown by Jasper MorrisonBy Emeco, Jasper MorrisonLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco 1 Inch Armchair in Dark Powder-Coated Aluminum & Green by Jasper MorrisonBy Jasper Morrison, EmecoLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Armchair in Brushed Aluminum & Ash by Jasper MorrisonBy Emeco, Jasper MorrisonLocated in Hanover, PAFor the 1 Inch Collection, Jasper Morrison tapped into Emeco’s heritage in hand crafting recycled aluminum, and leveraged its signature strength, light weight, and sustainability. Em...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Armchairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Jasper Morrison Emeco Navy Officer Swivel Office Armchair, Aluminum & AdjustableBy Jasper Morrison, EmecoLocated in Miami, FLJasper Morrison Emeco Navy Officer Swivel Office Armchair Offered for sale is a "Navy Officer" adjustable recycled aluminum and fabric upholstered office c...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs ...
MaterialsAluminum
- Orla Swivel Armchair in Poplar and Dark Brown Leather by Jasper MorrisonBy Cappellini, Jasper MorrisonLocated in New York, NYClassic and contemporary stylistic elements define the Orla sofas and armchairs by Jasper Morrison, a masterpiece of contemporary design that has entered the collection of the Tate M...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Vitra by Jasper Morrison Park Brown Leather ArmchairsBy Vitra, Jasper MorrisonLocated in London, GBDesigned by Jasper Morrison for Vitra in 2004, the park armchair has a sleek and modern aesthetic. The chairs have a cubic silhouette, with a solid wood frame and sits on four pol...Category
Early 2000s German Armchairs
MaterialsLeather
- Cappellini Orla Swivel Armchair in Poplar and Fabric by Jasper MorrisonBy Jasper Morrison, CappelliniLocated in New York, NYClassic and contemporary stylistic elements define the Orla sofas and armchairs by Jasper Morrison, a masterpiece of contemporary design that has entered the collection of the Tate M...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Orla Swivel Armchair in Poplar and Green Poly Velvet by Jasper MorrisonBy Jasper Morrison, CappelliniLocated in New York, NYClassic and contemporary stylistic elements define the Orla sofas and armchairs by Jasper Morrison, a masterpiece of contemporary design that has entered the collection of the Tate M...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Set of 4 Air Armchair in Beige by Jasper Morrison for MAGISBy Jasper Morrison, MagisLocated in Brooklyn, NYAir-Family takes its name from the “air-moulding” technology that makes it possible to create highly resistant yet super-lightweight products out of polypropylene added with fibregla...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Chairs
MaterialsPlastic