Set of Six Brushed Aluminum #111 “Navy” Chairs by Emeco with Cushion

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About the Item

Set of six brushed aluminum #111 “Navy” chairs by Emeco, circa 1990s. the set is very sturdy and functional and in very good vintage condition. The chairs come with black Naugahyde seat pads and measure 15.5″W x 19.5″D x 34″H with a seat height of 18″. #3528

Originally designed for use on WWII submarines, today’s 111 Navy Chair is an innovative collaboration between Coca-Cola and Emeco, Solving an environmental problem of the discarding of plastic soda bottles that pollute our environment, 111 discarded PET bottles are utilized towards the creation of the Navy Chair, saving millions of Coca-Cola bottles from the landfill each year. Crafted right here in the United States and built to last a lifetime, the simple silhouette and variety of colorful finishes let you effortlessly match to fit your interior needs.Creator: Emeco (Maker)Dimensions: Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Seat Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Sold As: Set of 6Style: Industrial (In the Style Of)Materials and Techniques: Aluminum,Naugahyde,BrushedPlace of Origin: United StatesPeriod: Late 20th CenturyDate of Manufacture: 1990sCondition: GoodWear consistent with age and use.Seller Location: San Diego, CAReference Number: Seller: #35281stDibs: LU936638888812Shop All Emeco

Emeco

While theyre best known for their revolutionary Navy chair, iconic American furniture company Emeco makes a whole range of seating and other furniture not just seaworthy chairs. The development of each product is guided by an eco-friendly ethos and pragmatic approach to design.

Emeco began to take shape during the 1940s, when the U.S. Navy needed a lightweight, fireproof chair that could withstand a torpedo blast and hold up to use by big, burly sailors, says Gregg Buchbinder, Emecos chief executive.

With experts from the Aluminum Company of America, an engineer named Wilton C. Dinges (191674) delivered, and the Emeco 1006 that is, the Navy chair an aluminum classic, was born. In order to demonstrate the chairs sturdiness, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, and when it landed, the chair bounced in lieu of breaking or bending.

The engineer secured a contract to manufacture the Navy chair beginning in 1944 at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco), which hed founded a few years earlier in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing decades, the factorys craftsmen would stamp out by hand hundreds of thousands of Navy chairs for battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines a process that requires more than 70 steps.

Today, the impossibly durable Navy chair, which is recyclable and made of at least 80 percent recycled aluminum, inspires knockoffs left and right and can be found in a variety of public settings, from upscale restaurants to hotels and offices. But it took time to get here.

In 1979, Greggs father, Jay Buchbinder, a businessman whose Long Beach, California, furniture company manufactured seating for fast food restaurants, purchased Emeco. The company hit a rough patch in the 1990s. When Gregg acquired Emeco from Jay in 1998, he took the $2 million in debt that came along with it. Fortuitously, Gregg learned that the Navy chair had taken on a new nonmilitary identity around the same time and that it was increasingly seen as sleek and retro in addition to being great submarine seating. Orders for the Navy chair were coming in from design luminaries like Ettore Sottsass, Giorgio Armani and a daring young French designer named Philippe Starck, who purchased a large number of 1006s for Ian Schragers Paramount hotel in New York City.

Gregg seized on Emecos newfound popularity, initiating a partnership with Starck, who would design the companys Hudson Collection, a line planned for Manhattans Hudson Hotel that saw the Navy chair take on the form of a barstool and other pieces. He also partnered with Frank Gehry, whose Superlight chair for Emeco can be hoisted off the ground with one hand. Collaborations with Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel and others followed, and today, Emeco continues to build durable seating furniture from a range of recycled materials with a variety of designers.

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