Chippensteel Limited

Chippensteel Limited

2008
Designer
Oskar Zieta, Polish, 1975
Born: Szczecin, Poland
Work Locations: Zurich, Switzerland
Country
Switzerland
Object
chair
Medium
Stainless steel
Accession Number
2015.3
Credit Line
Funds from Design Council of the Denver Art Museum

Oskar Zieta (Polish, born 1975), Chippensteel Chair Limited, 2008. Stainless steel. Funds from Design Council of the Denver Art Museum, 2015.3.

Dimensions
height: 30 1/4 in, 76.835 cm; width: 18 in, 45.7200 cm; depth: 24 in, 60.9600 cm
Department
Architecture and Design
Collection
Architecture and Design

Oskar Zieta
Polish, born 1975
Chippensteel Limited
2008
Stainless steel
Funds from Design Council of the Denver Art Museum, 2015.3

“All the small but important impacts on the material happen in the last production step, in the blowing up. We call it controlling the loss of control.”

How do you stabilize something as thin as a sheet of paper? The question motivated Oskar Zieta to develop his process of inflating and shaping thin sheets of metal by means of high-pressure air, now known as FiDU (Free Inner Pressure Forming). To produce the Chippensteel Chair, two identical forms—cut from thin metal sheets—were laser welded together at their edges. Blowing pressurized air through a small hole transformed the flat form into three-dimensions, giving it a balloon-like appearance. Perforations in the back and seat helped stabilize it during inflation, giving Zieta slightly more control over its shape.

Known Provenance
Purchased 2014 from (Zieta Prozessdesign Sp. z o.o.), Wrocław, Poland by the Denver Art Museum.
Exhibition History
  • "Unseated: Contemporary Chairs Reimagined"—Denver Art Museum, 5/1/2016 - 11/12/2017