Rex (chair)

Contents

REX Chair

REX Chair(Stol REX) is one of the most famous Slovenian industrial design items.

In 1952 was designed by architect and designer and winner of the Prešeren Prize, Niko Kralj who was at the time the manager of Stol development services. Kralj conquered the world with his innovative design and his chair was elevated to the level of a cult item. Kralj is ranked among such international industrial design legends as Charles and Ray Eames or Alvar Aalto. Rex was the first chair in Slovenia, designed for mass production, made in technology of molded, perforated plywood. He became a model of ergonomic and functional perfect item, and it is a cult object for design lovers around the globe. Until today, they have produced over 2 million chairs. REX Chair is included in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art MOMA in New York. Following the selection of the ″Finance″ newspaper in 1999, REX chair was ranked at the second place as the Slovenian product of 20th century.

At 50-years of development there was in Ljubljana at the Museum of Modern Art an exhibition that was on display from 26 October to 28 November 2004.

Exclusive holder for manufacturing and distribution rights of REX chair is Impakta Les.

REX Collection in production today consists of: Rex Folding Chair, Rex Folding Lounge Chair, Rex Folding Rocking Chair, Rex Folding Daybed and Rex Folding Table.

All items come in various colors:

With its well-proportioned shape, REX furniture comes alive in any room: as a comfortable living room lounge chair, a desk chair in an office, or an interesting work of art to brighten your home or workplace. Its clean lines, with their calm contemporary elegance, fit the body perfectly, giving you a feeling of floating and a pleasant sense of relaxation.

Development of REX Design

Basic types

Variations in the REX Chair: (taken from Jasna Horvatin, Ph.D. “The Historical Development of the Rex Chair.” Rex Evolution. Half a Century in the History of a Chair.)

  1. In the Model 120 (1953) the plywood sidepieces were replaced with perforated three dimensionally turned plywood. The two extreme structural crosspieces on the front edge of the seat and the top of the back were removed and replaced by glued strips. The armrests were made of bent wood.
  2. Model 101 (1954) is a variation of REX Chair 120, without armrests. Removing the armrests had a negative effect of structural stability, so two cross bindings were added between the rear legs for strength.
  3. Model 5654 (1956), the best known chair in the Rex family, is still being produced today, as a low armchair intended to be used in covered areas. It has been produced in various styles depending on its assigned use, as a club chair, a high-backed chair or an auditorium chair. Rex 5654, a collapsible variation model of 120, was patented in 1958 as a unique kind of folding armchair. All elements in the chair are mutually connected.
  4. Model 140 has a back that is connected to the front legs, which meet the diagonal rear legs in the middle section. The height of the back panel is the same as in the classic REX Chair, only here whole plywood is used for the upper half of the back panel.
  5. Model 5652 is a folding dining chair with a higher and shorter seat and with legs that stand more vertically than in Model 1954.
  6. The restaurant chair has perforated seat and back panels, straight/standing legs and a slightly inclined back. It is suitable for loading.
  7. The Rex Program also included coffee tables, chaises lounges, and rocking chairs (Model 5655). Foreign manufacturers produced copies of the REX Chair in plastic. These chairs could be used outdoors, as well, but they never attained the high aesthetic quality of the original.

Developmental phases of the REX Chair

(taken from Jasna Horvatin, Ph.D. “The Historical Development of the Rex Chair.” Rex Evolution. Half a Century in the History of a Chair.)

The Chair is made entirely of wood. It consists of a solid beechwood frame for secured pieces of bowed plywood with a rectangular shape. The armrests, made of solid wood with the front sections cut in a round shape, are joined statically to the two diagonal legs.

The end of the curved sidepieces are set in the crosspieces at the edges of the seat and the back panels; in this way the use of visible wood screws is avoided at the front of the chair. The crosspiece on the seat contributes to the chair’s greater comfort.

The seat and the back panels are created by the cross pieces designed in a mold. In this way, the problematic sharp bend between the seat and the back is avoided and the length of individual rods is shortened. The seat and back are curved to the shape of the body. The rear legs extend into the armrest. The formation of this element requires high-quality wood with a good deal of waste involved. This is a prefabricated chair held together with bolts and nuts.

The seat and back are the same as in the third model. The armrest and the front and rear legs are all in one piece. This element is made of veneers designed in a mold and requires solid wood reinforcements. “The use of wood is reduced to the minimum; the armchair is prefabricated and stable even without bindings on the legs.” The shortened armrests, however, is problematic, since it does not provide the best support, especially for the elbow.

Te seat and the back are the same as in the third model. The front and rear legs touch at the top and the spread apart diagonally downwards. To support this A-shape, the plywood armrest, which is curved at a right angle (through high-frequency dielectric heating), is affixed to the upper section. The chair structure is strengthened further by the armrest being joined to the back panel.

The slats that were set shallowly into the side element were not able to withstand abrupt burdens and so are replaced by perforated three-dimensionally bent plywood, shaped to the contours of the body. The panels is inserted between two sidepieces. The edge pieces on the front of the seat panel and the top of the back panel are replaces by glued strips. In 1954, Model No. 56 was accepted for mass production under the name Rex 120.

References

  1. Hrovatin, J. Ph.D. (2004) “The Historical Development of the Rex Chair.” Rex Evolution. Half a Century in the History of a Chair.