Vitra Belleville Ply Chair

Belleville is the name of the vibrant Paris neighbourhood where the designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec have their studio. Visual references for the Belleville Chair can be found in the classic French bistro furnishings and lively atmosphere of this Parisian quarter. The chair's familiar shape - even in a contemporary context - might at first be taken for granted, yet it also evokes a sense of mystery and bemusement, since the materiality, construction and fabrication of the chair only become apparent at second glance.

The Belleville Chair is a technically sophisticated chair consisting of two components - a structural frame and a moulded plywood veneer seat shell. Tracing the calligraphic lines of the legs and back, the slender frame supports a thin shell that tapers from the wide seat surface into a narrow backrest.