The Bubble Chair is a TV Star

The Bubble Chair by Eero Aarnio has become a TV star. I just saw it in a commercial with Marissa Tomei. Earlier this week Brittany Gastineau was sitting in one on the new reality show "The Gastineau Girls". It is also in Kelly's pink bedroom on The Osbournes.

The Bubble Chair is such a hot star that it should get it's name in credits.

So, this is my little tribute to the Bubble Chair. In case you haven't seen this "chair wonder" yet, it's easy to visualize. Imagine a huge clear bubble. Cut it in half vertically and hang the remaining half from a chain that is attached to the ceiling. Now, you can sit in half of the acrylic bubble. People often call it a "ball chair" but it's really called the Bubble chair. It was designed in 1968 by Eero Aarnio. Aarnio did also design a chair called the Ball Chair two years before the Bubble Chair. It is indeed round like the Bubble Chair, but it sits on a pedestal base on the ground and you can't see through it. Aarnio designed the Bubble chair after the Ball chair because he wanted to have light inside the chair. If you want to cuddle up in a private cocoon, sit in The Ball. If you want to sit back and relax yet see the world around you (while being totally exposed to light and everyone around you) sit in The Bubble. Although people will be able to see you in The Bubble, there is something still that seems very shielding about it.

So, the next time you blow bubbles, imagine what it would be like to sit inside one, and know that thanks to Eero Aarnio, you CAN. 

This post is from the Retropolis archives. It was originally posted March 3, 2005.