Comment on The IKEA catalogue through the agesComments−lqet4yI am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd...The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.−Gravityloss4yUsually with furniture there are forerunner designers / manufacturers that establish an innovation, then all mass manufacturers copy it a decade or two or five later.For example the cantilever laminated wood frame chair made an appearance already in the 1930s. https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401Cantilever steel tube + cane chair Cesca from 1928. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair−aqsalose4yIt was a retro-chair already in the 1970s. See here Aalto's Armchair 406 (made and sold by Artek) from 1939.https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=imag...−tonyedgecombe4yIt's interesting to see the price of the Poäng over time:https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roede...from:https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-...I know people here like to criticise Ikea but they are remarkably good at squeezing cost out of their business.−2muchcoffeeman4yBilly has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!−lqet4yI was aware of that, but I would've never guessed that IKEA started selling Poäng before they started selling Billy.
Comments
I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd...
The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.
Usually with furniture there are forerunner designers / manufacturers that establish an innovation, then all mass manufacturers copy it a decade or two or five later.
For example the cantilever laminated wood frame chair made an appearance already in the 1930s. https://www.artek.fi/en/products/armchair-401
Cantilever steel tube + cane chair Cesca from 1928. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesca_Chair
It was a retro-chair already in the 1970s. See here Aalto's Armchair 406 (made and sold by Artek) from 1939.
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Armchair+406+aalto&iax=imag...
It's interesting to see the price of the Poäng over time:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/roede...
from:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-weird-economics-of-...
I know people here like to criticise Ikea but they are remarkably good at squeezing cost out of their business.
Billy has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!
I was aware of that, but I would've never guessed that IKEA started selling Poäng before they started selling Billy.