Description

VENETIA CHAIR

In all civilisations, the chair is something essential. It is a reflection of the human body, in a sense another part of the human body. Every body has its own shadow. The ancient Egyptians believed that the shadow was part of God. This has been transmitted to all known civilisations, and it was also known to the Slovenians as the imprint of man in materials, in wood, and then in a product made after the body: it was not a chair for work, but for meditation. In this sense, research into Egyptian culture and Tutankhamun has shown that this art went beyond the image of the body into the spiritual world.

The Venetia chair has not a single flat surface - it is like a sculpture. It draws on the symbolism of Egyptian culture. The shape of the chair is partly an imprint of the human body; the chair is therefore shaped like a human body. The seat has a bulge in the middle of the front, which allows comfortable sitting in one position only. This connection between left and right is in fact the union of male and female in terms of spirit. This is how natural, simple forms are brought together to form a whole. Form is energy, form is nature, nature is God's creation.

Oskar Kogoj designed the Venetia chair for the Italian company Tarpac Data International back in 1987, when he added several new pieces to his Nature Design collection. The company had previously been involved in the production of replicas of medieval furniture in chestnut wood. When they met, Kogoj designed for them a book on chestnut culture and a new trademark, the modernised ankh.  On one of Oskar Kogoj's first visits to Lucca, Tarcisio Pacini, the founder of Tarpac, suggested that he design a chair. Kogoj was ready for this. He brought with him a miniature of the chair, which he made by hand from walnut root. Pacini was instantly taken by what he saw. He started work the same day and by the next day the first piece was finished. The chairs were made in a factory in Brianza, a province near Milan in Italy, where they had a pantograph machine that was used to rough the chair and finish it by hand. They were sold all over the world.