"Air Line" Armchair

Kem Weber|Airline Chair Company (Los Angeles, California)

ca. 1934 · Wood, Naugahyde · Modern and Contemporary Art

Kem Weber, the first of the great European émigré designers to settle on the West Coast, was commissioned to design the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California in the 1930s. Approximately two hundred of his "Air Line" chairs furnished the projection room, animators’ offices, and other interior spaces. Named for its streamlined contours and cantilevered form, this chair evokes an age of speed and transatlantic aviation. Its structure allowed for dynamic movement, with the seat and back gently gliding with the sitter’s posture. Sold unassembled in a slim box—complete with a carrying handle—the chair was a precedent for today’s portable "flat-pack" furniture, designed to be put together at home without tools or technical knowledge. Weber’s "Air Line" chair and his interior design scheme for the Disney Studios were reflective of a vibrant, emerging California Modernism, balancing expressive creativity and rational efficiency.

Artist

Kem Weber|Airline Chair Company (Los Angeles, California)

Date

ca. 1934

Medium

Wood, Naugahyde

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 2000