Space Age Club Chairs
Vintage Space Age furniture captured post–World War II optimism with swooping shapes, bowed lines and experimentation with new materials including plastic and fiberglass.
From the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 to the landing of Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon in 1969, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States propelled advancements in technology that transformed culture. Space Age design encompassed fashion, architecture, cars, furniture and objects for the home, bringing wonder and hope for the future into everyday life.
Coinciding with Pop art, Space Age style featured bold colors and forms. Eero Aarnio’s Ball chair, which debuted in 1966, used molded fiberglass for a capsule-like space while Verner Panton’s 1959 Panton chair was a single piece of molded plastic for a gravity-defying S shape. Red versions of Olivier Mourgue’s 1964 Djinn chair were futuristic enough to appear on the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Today, Joe Colombo is revered as a master of modern Italian design thanks to the provocative modular furniture pieces he created, such as the Tube chair and the Elda armchair, both of which embody the future-forward spirit of the Space Age.
The Space Age spirit extended to home building too. The futuristic Case Study Houses, which were designed by the likes of Pierre Koenig, Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra and Whitney R. Smith, are considered a high point of modernism and the Southern California lifestyle.
Sometimes the nods to space exploration were more literal, like moon and star motifs or the 1965 Eclisse lamp by Vico Magistretti that saw the mid-century Italian designer integrating a movable inner shade to “eclipse” the light source. Alongside the pioneering moon missions, JVC manufactured the Videosphere portable television reminiscent of the Apollo 11 space helmets.
Although the style faded in the 1970s — with the 1975 joining of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts signaling a new era of cooperation and the global oil crisis impacting the availability of plastics — the era’s innovations influenced designers into the 21st century such as Zaha Hadid and Djivan Schapira.
Find a collection of vintage Space Age seating, tables, lighting and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1970s French Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Plastic
1960s Italian Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Velvet, Rattan, Rush
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Chrome
1960s Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Bentwood
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Leather
1960s German Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Metal
1970s Finnish Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Leather, Fiberglass
1970s German Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Leather, Plywood
1960s Danish Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Upholstery, Plastic
1970s Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Steel
Mid-20th Century European Space Age Club Chairs
Wood, Fabric
Mid-20th Century Scandinavian Space Age Club Chairs
Metal
1970s Swiss Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Chrome
1970s Italian Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Velvet, Fiberglass, Polyester
1960s American Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Wrought Iron
Late 20th Century Space Age Club Chairs
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Metal, Chrome
1970s American Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Leather
1960s American Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Upholstery, Plastic, Faux Leather
Mid-20th Century Swedish Space Age Club Chairs
Leather, Beech
1960s Swedish Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Canvas, Oak
1960s Italian Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Leather, Palisander
1960s Danish Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Plastic
Late 20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Chrome
Late 20th Century Space Age Club Chairs
Leather
1960s European Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
1960s European Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
1960s European Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Velvet, Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century Space Age Club Chairs
Chrome, Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Chrome
1960s German Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Fiberglass
1970s French Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Fiberglass
Mid-20th Century Space Age Club Chairs
Metal
2010s American Space Age Club Chairs
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Space Age Club Chairs
Plastic
Mid-20th Century Dutch Space Age Club Chairs
Wool
Mid-20th Century Italian Space Age Club Chairs
Fabric, Bouclé