{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1380619"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1380619/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KL1800/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2017KL1800/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2017KL1800","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1380619","accessionNumber":"E.703-2017","objectType":"Design","titles":[{"title":"Design for Adhoc Chair","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The 'Adhocist' chair was designed by the  architect and critic Nathan Silver as a dining chair. It featured on the cover of the influential  book on design and architecture, Adhocism. A  Case for Improvisation, by Nathan Silver and  Charles Jencks, and became subsequently one of  the most memorable and well-known furniture  designs of the era. It is made completely of  found elements. The frame is composed of bent  steel gas pipe while other components are  drawn from an agricultural tractor, a wheelchair  and bicycle. The extensive application of existing  material positions the object as a very early and  innovative example of using recycling and  'bricolage' strategies (a term borrowed from the  anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss referring to  tasks or structures realised by appropriating pre- existing materials which are ready to hand.) \r\n\tThe V&A's example of the 'Adhocist' is the first  that Silver made and the one featured on the  cover.","physicalDescription":"Design for Ad Hoc Chair with three diagrams on one page. A Bird's eye view of the chair in the upper left hand corner with a front view of the chair in the lower left hand corner. One the right hand side of the page is a side view of the chair shown with a bearded man sitting in the Ad Hoc chair. ","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Nathan Silver","id":"A37390"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"tracing paper","id":"AAT14161"},{"text":"ink","id":"AAT15012"}],"techniques":[{"text":"drawn","id":"x30545"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Ink on tracing paper. ","categories":[{"text":"Designs","id":"THES48968"},{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[{"text":"20th century","id":"x36672"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2017KL1800"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLE","id":"THES49657"},"free":"","case":"DR","shelf":"7","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"designs","id":"AAT102051"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"london","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1968","earliest":"1968-01-01","latest":"1968-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"54.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"59.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"The chair is made completely of found elements.  The frame is a steel gas pipe which has been  bent to form the seat support and back/arm  assembly. The radius of each curve is identical,  because the engineering firm that built the chair  to Silver's design, Crofton Engineering of  Hadstock Road, Linton, Cambs., had only a single  machine to do the job with an 8 inch wheel.  Other components were parts of an agricultural  tractor, wheelchair (manufactured by Zimmer  Orthopedic) and bicycle. The tractor seat was  possibly manufactured by the Ferguson Company  for their TE20 tractor model and bought from A.  Spafford & Co. It was chrome plated after  purchase. The whole has been brought to a high  level of finish through the use of chrome and  vermilion paint. The total cost of the fabrication  was £30, of which £15 was used to purchase the  four wheels. This was a very early and innovative  use of recycling and bricolage strategies. \r\n\tThe 'Adhocist' chair was made for Silver's house  at 37 Earl Street in Cambridge. He owned the  house until 1975. The flooring was made of  rough brick. Silver used wheels because he  wanted a seating that would not be damaged or  produce a scraping sound when moved. It was  intended as a dining chair. The wheels only  needed to move in one axis, to pull in and out  from the table. \r\n\tThe chair is the only extant example of the  design. Silver did not make a full set of eight as  originally intended. He cited cost as the reason.  He made only two further chairs of this design  (one fully chromed and one striped in imitation of  a bicycle) and a backless stool (fully chromed).  These were lost 15 years ago when a storage  facility was inadvertently cleared and only the  present chair was rescued. Thus the present  chair is the only example of the design  Silver has  retained some components for the rest of the set  of chairs and may create new versions.\r\n\r\n\tHistorical significance: This example is the first  that Silver made of this design. It featured on  the cover of 'Adhocism', Silver's book on design  and architecture, and became subsequently one  of the most memorable furniture designs of the  era.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Nathan Silver; preliminary design for Ad Hoc Chair, 1968","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Design","id":"THES48872"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["E.703-2017"],"accessionNumberNum":"703","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2017,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-16","recordCreationDate":"2017-02-09","availableToBook":false}}