Seleri doesn’t have too strong a character. It’s distinctive, but it doesn’t fight for attention and it blends in to environments.
Chairs should be like good alphabets: when they’re laid down, they should disappear into the page, while still impacting how you view the whole. We didn’t want something that screamed for attention.
Read interview about Seleri chair by Oli Stratford on Disegno Daily (PDF)
Inspired partly by the spirit and the enduring quality of the British utility furniture from 1940’s, Seleri is Mentsen’s take on classic utilitarian wooden chairs. The structure is kept simple and efficient with small footprint.
Designed in 2012 and 2013, Seleri family is produced by Zilio A&C (IT).
Chair, lacquered beech
Low stool, oak
High stool, lacquered beech
Simple but agreeable designs
Of particular influence was the work of the Utility Furniture Advisory Committee, an organisation in existence between 1942 and 1952 in which designers such as Gordon Russell and Edwin Clinch produced a number of state approved furniture designs, all of which were austere, minimal and durable enough to fit with the scarcity of materials created by the War.
This is photograph D 11053 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. Utility Furniture Exhibition at the Building Centre, London, 1942 Two women enjoy a meal at a table in a living room set, as part of a display of Utility furniture at the Building Centre in London.
The section of legs are shaped like a circular sector, or a bit like the section of celery stem, which makes the leg visually robust as well as delicate depending on the angle they are viewed.
Bench and dining table was developed following year with the same characteristics.
900mm wide bench, lacquered beech
1200mm wide bench, oak, upholstered seat
dining table, oak
Seleri chairs, table and bench
Checking on the detail of the leg on the first finished sample
Checking the final sample of Seleri table at Zilio A&C warehouse
Taking notes of corrections onto the first rough prototype
Photo © PAN Projects
