The Eileen Gray Bibendum Chair In Any EnvironmentThough Eileen Gray died in 1976 she became renowned for her skill with lacquer artististry, furniture designing, and architecture leading to the production of the now popular eileen gray bibendum chair which comes in a few different colors. It was while studying interior design that Gray designed furniture as well as collaboration with Badovici on its structure. Her circular glass E-1027 table and rotund eileen gray bibendum chair were inspired by the recent tubular steel experiments of Marcel Breuer at the Bauhaus (who had been inspired, in turn, by Mart Stam). The house is now in poor repair. Gray and Badovici began work on the house In 1968, a complimentary magazine article quickly grew into an unexpected hit, and the Bibendum chair and E-1027 table went back into production. Following the purchase of her archive in 2002, the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks, Dublin opened a permanent exhibition of her work. At the same time, the continued popularity of the Herman Miller aeron chair is prompting the Zeeland company to invest $2.5 million into expanding production capacity at its Holland plant. The company has asked the city of Holland for a 50 percent tax break on the improvements, which include building upgrades, new machinery and other equipment. The project is expected to create 65 new jobs in production at the plant, located at 1400 S. Pine. Aeron is one of several office chairs produced at the Holland plant located just north of Tulip City Airport. The facility employs 514 workers. "It is, by far, the single most commercially successful seating product in the company's history," said Mark Schurman, company spokesman. "The (Aeron) chair has averaged a 50 percent compound growth rate every year since its introduction." Over the years, the company has had to increase production capacity to keep up with the demand for the Aeron chair. Earlier this year, the company received a tax abatement on a $900,000 investment made for new machinery and equipment at its Holland plant. That improvement was expected to create 20 new jobs. The chair debuted as an instant classic in 1994. Even before the product was commercially unveiled, the Museum of Modern Art added one to its permanent design collection, Schurman said. The chair often is part of the scenery in films, television and magazine layouts.
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