W. W. Stool 1988 (this exemplar ± 2010)
Philippe Starck FR
VitraCH
sandblasted and lacquered aluminium
purchase from the manufacturer, 2010
Over the course of a telephone conversation in 1988, the German film-maker Wim Wenders, known for Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire, asked Philippe Starck to design a chair that would enable him to work standing up in his office. The French designer accordingly sketched a fantastic sculptural and somewhat surrealistic office-furniture set. The chair was inspired by the lively beauty of plant growth, which in Starck’s view could add magic to a workplace. The three legs of the W.W. Stool, which takes its name from the initials of the commissioner’s name, were conceived as the budding roots of a plant, of which two shoots serve as back and footrest, respectively. Wim Wenders used his chair for years. In 2012 he donated it to the newly founded Wim Wenders Stiftung. In the meantime the design had been put into limited production by Vitra since 1990.
SOURCES
Met dank aan Victoria Paturel (Starck Network) en Hannah Huber (Wim Wenders Stiftung).