Oscar Niemeyer "Aran" Lounge Chair with Ottoman, 1975
View Similar Items
Oscar Niemeyer "Aran" Lounge Chair with Ottoman, 1975
About the Item
- Creator:Oscar Niemeyer (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 30 in (76.2 cm)Depth: 52 in (132.08 cm)Seat Height: 17.5 in (44.45 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1975
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU813825502132
Oscar Niemeyer
Oscar Niemeyer made modernist architecture sexy. In his signature designs, such as those for the planned capital city of Brasília, Niemeyer created a distinctively buoyant architectural vocabulary of sweeping curves, flowing lines and organic forms (attributes that also characterize his seductive furniture). As expressions of faith in the power of modern architecture and design to foster progress, Niemeyer’s buildings have a kind of heroic poetry.
Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho was born to an upper-middle-class family in Rio de Janeiro. (His father was a graphic designer.) While in graduate school, Niemeyer began working for Lúcio Costa, one of the few modernist architects working in Brazil in the 1930s. Niemeyer would be assigned to the design team for a new building in Rio for the Ministry of Education and Health. The famed Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier was hired as a consultant on the project, and through him Niemeyer would absorb many lessons in bringing a sense of structural lightness to large buildings — though he would never embrace the geometric forms espoused by Le Corbusier and the members of the Bauhaus.
“I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man,” Niemeyer would write in his memoirs. “I am attracted to free-flowing sensual curves.”
Nowhere would Niemeyer demonstrate his love of curvature more expressively and elegantly than in his designs for the principal buildings for Brasília, a project begun in 1956. The dramatic Congressional Palace features two stark towers flanked by a domed structure and a bowl-shaped edifice, for the upper and lower legislative houses. He placed the Palácio da Alvorada (the presidential residence) on a small peninsula jutting into a lake, so that the sequence of parabolic columns on its facade casts a mirror image on the water. Niemeyer’s grandest achievement was the city’s cathedral, a stunning composition of 16 arched vertical supports with tinted-glass interstices.
Four years after Brasília was completed, in 1960, Brazil’s elected government was overthrown in a military coup. Niemeyer, a member of the Communist party, was harassed continually by the junta. He left the country and did not return until democracy was restored, in 1985.
While in exile, in the early 1970s, Niemeyer began collaborating on furniture designs with his daughter, Anna Maria Niemeyer. Their best known pieces are seating furniture — the Alta lounge chair and ottoman and the Rio rocking chaise, which have flowing bases made of sheets of lacquered wood or stainless steel, share the aesthetics of Niemeyer’s architecture.
The Alta’s deep, oversized seat pads nod — much like the chair designs of Niemeyer’s countryman Sergio Rodrigues — to the Brazilian penchant for long, languorous conversations. Examples of both designs are priced at about $20,000, depending on age, condition and materials. As you will see on these pages, Oscar Niemeyer’s furniture designs are sleek, sculptural, comfortable and elegant — as well as a compact emblem of the work of one of the great architects of our time.
Find vintage Oscar Niemeyer lounge chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Pair of Italian Leather Lounge ChairsLocated in New York, NYPair of Italian Mid-Century lounge chairs with their original leather. Can be sold individually on request. Condition: Good original condition, wear consistent with age and use. Wi...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
$6,500 / set - Italian Midcentury Lounge Chairs by LenziBy LenziLocated in New York, NYItalian midcentury lounge chairs by Lenzi $7,500.00 Striking Italian 1950s lounge chairs by Lenzi with a sleek design and sophistica...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
$7,500 / set - Rattan Lounge Chair by Bonacina, Italy, 1960sBy BonacinaLocated in New York, NYSculptural and comfortable Italian Mid-Century lounge chair made in rattan by Bonacina. The design is attributed to either Franco Albini or Tito Agnoli who worked extensively with th...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsRattan
- Carboni for Arflex "Dolphin" Lounge Chair, Italy, 1950sBy Erberto CarboniLocated in New York, NYThe Dolphin club chair is considered one of the best Italian armchair designs of the 50's. It was designed in 1954 by Ernesto Carboni for Arflex one of...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
$2,220 Sale Price40% Off - Pair of Marco Zanuso Style Lounge Chairs, Italy, 1960sBy Marco ZanusoLocated in New York, NYPair of Marco Zanuso style lounge chairs, Italy, 1960s $6,500.00 Italian midcentury armchairs in the style of Marco Zanuso character...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Italian Mid-Century Armchairs with Boucle FabricLocated in New York, NYPair of Italian Mid-Century armchairs recovered with an ivory boucle fabric and with tapering wood feet. Price for the pair-can be split on request. Condition: Excellent vintage con...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Mid-Century Modern Rare "Aran" Lounge Chair Oscar Niemeyer, 1970sBy Oscar NiemeyerLocated in Brussels, BEMid-Century Modern Rare "Aran" Lounge chair by Oscar Niemeyer, 1975. "Oscar Niemeyer made modernist architecture sexy. In his signature designs, such as those for the planned capita...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Oscar Niemeyer "Alta" Chair & OttomanBy Oscar NiemeyerLocated in Padova, ITOascar Niemeyer Alta chair & ottoman in black leather for Mobilier International, France. Low seat edition. Satin stainless steel structure, fixing knobs, a...Category
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- White Leather Alta Lounge Chair and Ottoman by Oscar NiemeyerBy Mobilier International, Oscar NiemeyerLocated in Madrid, ESIconic 'Alta' lounge chair with ottoman designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and manufactured by Mobilier International in France. Made of steel with white leather upholste...Category
Late 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Oscar Niemeyer White "Alta" Lounge ChairBy Oscar NiemeyerLocated in Edogawa-ku Tokyo, JPWhite "Alta" lounge chair designed by Oscar Niemeyer. White leather upholstery and steel. This individual was exhibited at “Oscar Niemeyer - Territories of Creation” at Instituto Tomie Ohtake...Category
Vintage 1970s Brazilian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Oscar Niemeyer Alta chair & ottoman Mobilier InternationalBy Oscar NiemeyerLocated in Padova, ITOscar Niemeyer Alta chair for Mobilier International, France. 1970s. Brushed steel structure joined by plastic knobs, movable backrest, black...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Sculptural Lounge Chair with OttomanLocated in Waalwijk, NLArmchair with ottoman, plywood, canvas, Czech Republic, 1950s. This wavy, elegant armchair with a high back is executed in a bent beech frame. The lounge chair and ottoman are uphol...Category
Vintage 1950s Czech Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsCanvas, Plywood