Frank Gehry made design history in 1972 when he designed a whole set of curvy modern furniture out of cardboard. You’ve more than likely seen Gehry’s classic Wiggle Chair hanging out around stylish offices and design spaces – showing off the strength, durability, and organic comfort that is possible with layered corrugated cardboard…
You can buy the classic Gehry wiggle chair from many mid-century modern design shops (like Moss) for 850 bucks, which isn’t too bad for a classic design icon. However, we’ve just discovered that there is now a cheaper and more eco-friendly knock-off of the same thing at cardboardchair.com.
We are not exactly sure what is going on with the intellectual property here, but we do know that the business looks perfectly legit and Cardboardchair’s version of the Wiggle chair is about half the price of the original ($430) – AND is made with 30% recycled cardboard:
$850 – Gehry Wiggle Chair at Moss
$430 – Curvy Side chair at Cardboardchair.com
In addition, the Cardboard chair company seems to have surpassed their original point of inspiration, because they’ve come up with a whole new set of designs for tables, stools and even shelves that are really clever and beautiful – designs that would probably make papa Gehry proud (if he isn’t mad about his classic chair getting ripped off…)
10 Responses to “CURVY CORREGATED CARDBOARD CHAIR”
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Somehow, praising “eco-friendly” without condemning blatant design thieves leaves me a little cold.
Hi MinimaKat-
I’m not saying I support knock-offs or stealing other people’s design ideas, but in this case the chair is so iconic and famous its not like Cardboardchair is fooling anyone or even trying to claim credit for the design, The website blatantly states that the chairs are “Gehry inspired”. I see the Cardboardchair company more like a Chinese Louis Vuitton handbag knock-off – a little sleazy perhaps – but also makes design more economical for the masses and allows people who aren’t as wealthy to purchase good design. The fact that it is eco-friendly makes it that much better. Don’t worry about Frank Gehry’s income – I hear he is doing just fine. Frankly, I believe it is things like this that will make his design MORE well known, iconic and collectible than ever over time. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and I think its okay when the one being imitated is already famous and iconic.
-Jill
I’m with MinimaKat on this one. Being inspired by a design or a designer’s use of materials is one thing, and can lead to new and wonderful objects. But directly copying the design (as in the pseudo-Wiggle chair, which does not appear to have been modified from the original except for a slightly more open back angle) does a disservice to the original designer, the manufacturer, other people who have invested in the “real” piece, etc. Frank Gehry’s hard work, talent, and originality led to his success and formidable income…they do not justify ripping off his design. And as an aside, the first Easy Edges pieces were designed by Gehry in the 70′s, and were sold by Bloomingdale’s, for about $35 apiece. At that point he was designing display furniture for department store windows and was focused on using affordable, everyday materials that would be accessible to everyone. I’d challenge Cardboardchair to come up with something equally affordable and innovative for today’s market.
Ditto Kimberly.
Original creators put a lot of R&D into their creations, and then have to market them. When a company like Cardboardchair comes along and knocks-off the design, they are profiting from the fame and success of the original with none of the risk.
It’s shameful, and unfortunately all too common.
I believe there is none the less something to be said for using recycled rather than new materials.
[...] I personally don’t have a problem with people knocking off famous high-end designers to create more affordable pieces (as long as the copycatters are honest about who they are copying), I definitely do have a problem [...]
thats a rip off its just cardboard how can they expect to get that much money for it
Crap…I just decided to make that chair in my schools workshop…I knocked off the knock-off. Sue me.
I see no problem in this at all. They gave credit for the idea. It would be different if they claimed that design as their own. Get over it.
Knock Off.