{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O75987"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75987/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV4330/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV4330/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AV4330","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014HC8587","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O75987","accessionNumber":"CIRC.12:1 to 3-1969","objectType":"Chair","titles":[{"title":"'Ball' chair 08702","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Eero Aarnio's Globe chair became an icon of Pop design in the late 1960s. Similar to Op Art of the period, derived from simple geometries of squares and circles, the chair is simply a dissected ball on a pivoting circular base.  Since the 1950s chair designers had experimented with one-piece seats and backs but here these elements were expanded into an encompassing micro-environment, like a pod that isolated the sitter. Aarnio even installed telephones in some Globe chairs, acknowledging that they were like small private rooms. \r\n\r\nThe pod motif recurred through late-1960s design and surely related to the popular fascination with space travel, inspired by the Apollo missions that culminated in the moon landings at the end of the decade.  The strict geometries,  synthetic materials and colours, and space-capsule-like character completely disassociate the chair from nature and seem to point forward to an optimistic, technological, man-made future.","physicalDescription":"Red fibreglass revolving chair with red upholstery and red metal base.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Aarnio, Eero","id":"A11656"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Asko","id":"A18421"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"fibreglass","id":"AAT183781"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"}],"techniques":[{"text":"upholstery","id":"x37978"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Fibreglass and upholstery on metal base","categories":[{"text":"Furniture","id":"THES48948"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AV4330","2014HC8587"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341886"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341886"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341886"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Chair","id":""}],[{"text":"Chair cushion","id":""}],[{"text":"Cushion","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Finland","id":"x28847"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Finland","id":"x28847"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1963","earliest":"1963-01-01","latest":"1963-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1966","earliest":"1966-01-01","latest":"1966-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","value":"97.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"119","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"66","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This chair was purchased for inclusion in the exhibition 'Modern Chairs, 1918-1970: and international exhibition presented by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in association with <i>The Observer </i>and arranged by the Circulation Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum'.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Ball chair (or 'globe' chair), designed by Eero Aarnio, 1963, manufactured by Asko, Finland, 1966; red metal pedestal base supporting a revolving red fibreglass globe lined with red upholstery","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Joelle D.J. Wickens, 'Documenting the <i>Globe</i>: Recording and Conserving Modern Upholstery Techniques and Materials Before They Disappear', in Ed. Karin Lohm, <i>The Forgotten History – Upholstery Conservation</i>. Linköping: University of Linköping, 2011. Papers of symposium held in Vadstena, Sweden in 2005, pp. 186-196, illus. on pp. 187, 188, 189."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Globe Chair \r\nEero Aarnio (born 1932)\r\nDesigned 1962-5, manufactured 1966\r\n\r\nThe Globe, or Ball Chair was intended by its designer to be a cocoon or private room for the sitter. Some versions even incorporated a telephone. The fibreglass sphere is mounted on a rotating pedestal base. \r\n\r\nFinland\r\nManufacturer: Asko Finnternational, Helsinki\r\nRed fibreglass, upholstery and painted metal base\r\nV&A: Circ.12:1-3-1969","date":{"text":"September 2009","earliest":"2009-09-01","latest":"2009-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["CIRC.12:1-1969","CIRC.12:2-1969","CIRC.12:3-1969"],"accessionNumberNum":"12","accessionNumberPrefix":"CIRC","accessionYear":1969,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Chair cushion","Cushion","Chair"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-01","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-04","availableToBook":true}}