In The News

Chair designer Rowland passes away

Chair designer Rowland passes away

The has taken place of industrial designer David Rowland whose stackable-chair system became worldwide success.

Mr. Rowland, who was 86, came up with the design for a chair which could be stacked and stored in a space-saving way in the late 1950’s.

He had wanted to produce an alternative to the folding chairs which were available on the market.

However, Mr. Rowland found it impossible at first to get a manufacturer to put his design, which he called the 40/4 (an abbreviation of 40 into 4) into production.  

It was not until 1963 that a US company, which had received an order for 17,000 chairs from a university, decided to make the chair.  The rest, as they say, is history.

The chair proved to be a worldwide success with millions being sold.

To view more information about Mr. Rowland’s design click here.

 

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