These chairs are reproductions of ones originally designed by Swedish furnituremaker Vidar Malmsten. They are light, strong, comfortable, and quietly proud of their Scandanavian roots. In other words, just about everything you could ask for in a chair. A challenge to build, but (in my opinion, anyway) well worth the effort.
Nearly every year, someone at CR builds a pair of these chairs. They say every pair is just a little bit different. To this day, they are they most challenging pieces I have built. I am proud to have made these chairs during my time at school.
When I finished weaving the seat for the second chair (and was, after fourteen weeks of hard work, finished with the pair), one of my instructors, Ejler Hjorth-Westh, sat in one. He put his arms on the rests, and made one hand into a C-shape. Presumably, that is where the Modelo Especial should go. "You could live in this chair," he said. I hope I never forget that day.
Photos by David Welter
