Amoebe Chair, 1970 by Verner Panton for Vitra

I can say with confidence that this chair receives the most attention in the showroom from those looking for something off-beat, fun, and from those under the age of 15. Kids love this chair! (adults do too… they’re just, for the most part, more reserved about expressing unabashed glee for big purple chairs. Or yellow ones for that matter.

Amoebe Chair, 1970 by Verner Panton for Vitra

This chair also comes in an even cheekier version – the high back Amoebe. This design offers all the comfort of a lounge chair with a place to rest your head. It also has a little wrap over ceiling, you know, in case it starts to rain The curved top edge further emphasizes that whimsy that Verner Panton is known and loved for.

High Back Amoebe Chair by Verner Panton for Vitra

This chair is certainly not short of character – it’s human like form is very expressive – see below… Amoebe: “Let me out to play!”

High Back Amoebe Chair looking longingly outside by Verner Panton for Vitra

Available in an array of lovable colours, both Amoebes are orderable on our website and/or through our showroom – 250-384-2554. We also have a purple version in stock on SALE – check it out on our clearance page, here.

We are participating in the apres holiday shopping savings … so now is the time to receive an additional 10% off your purchase at gabrielross.com (some exclusions apply). For another 6 days, enter the discount code: GRBOX10 when you checkout and save!

Nearly all our products are included in the sale. Whether you’ve been daydreaming about a Little Field of Flowers area rug from Nanimarquina or a Hans Wegner Easy Chair, now is the time to order.

Little Field of Flowers by Studio Tord Boontje for Nanimarquina

CH25 Easy Chair by Hans Wegner for Carl Hansen

The boxing day sale includes products from nearly all of our suppliers – stainless steel from Blomus, the entire Alessi collection, design classics from Fritz Hansen, Kartell gnomes and ghost chairs, miniature Eames Lounge Chairs from Vitra… and much much more.

Shop the sale until January 8th, here.

300 Coloured Vases, Hella Jongerius - photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

Hella Jongerius featured this installation of 300 vases at her a recent show: ”Misfit”  in the museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2010.

Misfit, Hella Jongerius - photo: lotte stekelenburg - courtesy: designboom.com

 The vases are documentation of the designer’s experiment in colour and glaze application. She used industrial paint in standard colours for the first 82 vases and then collaborated with the experts at royal tichelaar makkum to combine historical mineral recipies with contemporary formulas in a layering effect that resulted in new, unique and dynamic colours and patinas.

photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

photo: gerrit schreurs fotografie - courtesy: designboom.com

The rest of the show appears to have followed suit – arranged by colour across the walls of the gallery.

"Misfit" by Hella Jongerius - photo: lotte stekelenburg - courtesy: designboom.com

"Misfit" by Hella Jongerius - photo: lotte stekelenburg - courtesy: designboom.com

We offer some of Jongerius’ noteworthy designs right here at gabrielross.com! Click on these links to find her Polder Sofa and Bovist Cushions.

Polder Sofa by Hella Jongerius, for Vitra

Bovist Cushions by Hella Jongerius, for Vitra

To view these products and more at gabrielross.com, click here.

Butterfly Stool by Sori Yanagi for Vitra, 1954 - photo: vitra.com

A butterfly, a bird, a whale’s tail … there have been several comparisons drawn from this stool for several animals, insects, and various forms of organic design. This beautiful sculptural seat is made of two pieces of molded plywood joined together. Stunning from every angle, the Butterfly creates a gentle, thin silhouette as a result of the negative space in the body (or lack there of) of the stool.

The Butterfly is available in two sizes and in three different wood finishes: Maple, Palisander, and Cherry veneer. There is also a matching red cushion available, although I can’t imagine wanting to cover up the perfect symmetrical seam on top of this piece.

Butterfly Stool - photo: kullotamago.jugem.jp

See the Butterfly Stool on our website, here.
Visit Vitra’s website, here.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec - photo credit: ola rindal

Maison et Object have selected Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec as one of their “Creators of the Year” as result of the large impact that they have made on the French design scene. Interior architects Gilles and Boissier and architect Edouard François join the Bouroullec brothers in the honour, having also been named “2011 Designers – On the Cutting Edge of Creation”.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec are the designers of many favorites here at Gabriel Ross including the modular plastic screen Algue, Slow Chair, and the Vegetal Chair for Vitra, and the Panier Basket for Kartell.

Algue, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Slow Chair, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Vegetal Chair, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra

Panier Basket, by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Kartell

See these products and more at gabrielross.com, here.
Visit Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s website, here.
Visit Maison et Objet’s website, here.

Vitra products at gabrielross.com will be on sale November 11-17! This vendor authorized sale will feature a 15% discount on our favorite Vitra products such as the Panton chair, Nelson wall clocks, the Eames House Bird (also one of our Christmas gift ideas, and currently in stock), Frank Gehry’s famous Wiggle chair, the Bouroullecs’ plastic modular Algue, Hella Jongerius’ Polder sofa, Jean Prouve’s Standard chair, and much much more …

Panton Chair, Verner Panton 1999

George Nelson Wall Clocks, 1950's

Eames House Bird

Wiggle Chair, Frank Gehry 1972, Algue, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec 2004

Polder Sofa, Hella Jongerius 2005

Standard Chair (1934) and Gueridon Table (1944), Jean Prouvé

View all of Vitra’s products on our website here.
View Vitra’s website here.

Vitra Miniatures Studio 65 Bocca Chair, 1970

Vitra has just released 3 brand new wall clocks by George Nelson. Shown is the Polygon Clock, Wheel Clock, designed in 1961. And the impressive Flock of Butterflies Clock, designed in 1955!

Verner Panton went into production on his first Panton chair in 1967.  That was the Panton Classic, a uniquely styled chair made of a rigid expanded plastic, and using cantilever technology.  This chair is distinguishable by its shiny appearance due to the lacquered surface.  Also, it is only available in Red, Black or White.  The Panton Classic was the starting point for a long and successful line of Panton chairs, that now come in Junior (Child’s sized version), a set of Miniatures, and a more affordable version of the Classic known just as the Panton Chair which came in to production in 1990.

Red Classic Pantons being put to use

The advantages of the newer Panton Chair, other than it is about 1/5th of the price of the Classic, is that technological progress has allowed it to be made out of Polypropylene, and it is available in a wide range of colours.  You can now get it in White, Grey, Orange, Red or Chartreuse.  This chair has a matte finish, and is incredibly versatile.  I find the chair surprisingly comfortable;  I had assumed it would be cold, hard, uncomfortable and, well…plastic!  But I have to say it is now one of my favourites, and none of my qualms rang true.

White Panton Chairs

The Junior Panton is exactly the same as the newer Panton Chair, just about %25 smaller.  Perfect for children, and comes in lots more fun colours: White, Red, Orange, Light Pink, Light Blue and Lime (I wish they would produce these colours for us big kids!).

Junior Panton Chairs

A great gift option for a Verner Panton fan would be the set of Panton Classic Miniatures.  They are a 1:6 scale, and come in a  set of 5.  They are produced exactly as the originals were (materials, construction, etc.).  According to Vitra, on average it takes 5 hours of manual labour to create these little gems!

As a final note, I came across the picture below while surfing the net.  It amazed me the uses that Panton Chairs have been put to.   As you can see, these chairs have been customized, but what an interesting concept!  Enjoy!

Panton Chairs, St. Bartholomew’s Church, Chodovice.

1. Hideaway – use unique storage to get organized
2. Cubic versus square – don’t focus on floor space, even the smaller spaces offer plenty of wall space
3. Smaller scale furniture – try chairs instead of a sectional and round tables instead of square
4. Mirror and glass – mirrors trick the eye into seeing into another room, whereas glass allows the eye to see through
5. Nesting and multipurpose pieces – nesting tables offer flexibility and a small footprint
6. Functional zones - split your space with different paint colours so if the dining room and living room have no wall separation, use different tones of paints in order to show functional difference between spaces
7. Accessorize – small spaces develop their style through the accessories

Modern Nesting Tables by Vitra