Frank Gehry Cardboard Stool for Vitra - 1972

Frank Gehry cardboard stool for Vitra. The architect Frank Gehry is known for his use of unusual materials. With his 1972 furniture series 'Easy Edges', he succeeded in bringing a new aesthetic dimension to such an everyday material as cardboard. Although surprisingly simple in appearance, the various pieces in the ‘Easy Edges’ series were designed with the consummate skill of an architect, making them not only very comfortable but also durable and robust. The iconic stool is robust and lends a striking note to any interior.

When a group of artists and scientists from NASA called a meeting at artist Robert Irwin’s studio in 1969, they asked architect Frank Gehry to give the place a quick makeover. Given the shoestring budget, Gehry came up with something simple yet subtly futuristic: seating made from stacks of cardboard, a humble material he kept around for making models.

It was also durable, needed no finishing, and had a noise-canceling quality that reportedly cut sound volume in half. Soon, with Irwin’s help, Gehry made a file cabinet and reception desk for his office, which led to the Easy Edges series of shelves, side tables, and, its enduring claim to fame, the Wiggle Side Chair, a narrow slab bent into an S-shaped seat.

While the press and public went wildfor what The New York Times Magazine deemed “paper furniture for penny pinchers,” Gehry worried its popularity would eclipse his architecture, so he stopped production of Easy Edges in 1973 and quit cardboard furniture altogether by 1982, eventually ceding rights to Vitra.