This is the so-called Monobloc, probably the best-selling chair in history.

And still it's getting a lot of hate so much that in Basel, Switzerland, the chair even became a political issue.

For years, it was forbidden by law to place the chair in outdoor areas of restaurants as people complained that they destroyed the cityscape.

But how did we even get the Monobloc?

And is it an example of good or bad design?

You can find these chairs pretty much everywhere.

Outside of cafes in Denmark, inside an office in Tanzania or at the western wall in Jerusalem.

These chairs make their way into our lives.

Now, for anyone interested in design, chair design is somewhat fascinating because one might think that a chair would be an object that doesn't need to change fundamentally over time.

But chairs do change.

Chair design can adapt shape and material to a specific function.

It can break conventions by challenging our idea of what a chair should look like.

Just like in designing other objects, designing a chair requires finding ways to combine functionality and visual appeal.

But chair design can also reflect a certain zeitgeist.

Like Marcel Breuer's Wassily chair made out of tubular steel and inspired by bicycle production, which was laying the groundwork for much of modern design.

Or with pop art, introducing strong color palettes in the sixties and seventies and advancements in space exploration,

inspiring futuristic furniture and private homes like a bunch of circle and egg-shaped designer chairs.

But the Monobloc is very different. It is used so widely that it's sort of meaningless.

Take a look at this photo. Where was it taken, and when?

It's almost impossible to tell.

This is an observation made by American media scholar and blogger Ethan Zuckerman, who has described the Monobloc is a context-free object.

We tend to associate most objects with a certain time and place.

If someone shows us a random photo, chances are that the objects in it will give us a hint as to when or where the photo was taken.

But the Monobloc chair hardly allows such conclusions to be made.

The chairs can be found in all parts of the world.

And it is an object so ubiquitous, that if you saw one laying around on a beach, you couldn't be sure whether someone brought it there or if it's a flotsam from a different part of the planet,

The Monobloc might be a prime example of globalization but it can also be a reminder (of) how locally different other objects around us still are.

There are critical views on this chair, and some rightly note that the Monobloc does not represent sustainable design.

Some see the chair as a prime example of mass consumption of uniform goods that disregard any sense of individuality.

Monoblocs can be used as an argument against globalization as they represent a decline in local culture.

But we can also turn this argument around.

Their success does not come from nowhere.

It's due to the fact that they are affordable and affordability matters since it allows social equality and economical advancement.

The Monobloc is an object that is deeply democratic.

You might be thinking we're creating a lot of fuss about a chair. But that's kind of the point.

Focusing on this object can allow us to think about more abstract questions.

And these conflicting views on the chair are part of the reason why many artists and designers have created artworks using Monoblocs.

But where do these chairs originate from?

Arguably, the first Monobloc was made in 1946 by Canadian designer DC Simpson.

However, at the time, the molding process was not suitable for cheap mass production and the whole concept might have been a bit ahead of its time.

But in the sixties, designers got interested in the idea of plastic molded chairs, notably the Bofinger chair by Helmut Betzner and a chair.

And Chair Universale by Joe Colombo, which was made of several individual molded parts.

But maybe the most important step towards the Monobloc was the introduction of a chair that is now considered a classic in design.

This is Verner Panton's single-piece cantilever chair.

Even if a comparison between the expensive designer chair and the less appreciated garden chair may seem strange.

The Penton chair is a technical predecessor since it is the world's first plastic chair that went into production using the same molding method used in today's Monoblocs.

Plus, Verner Panton designed the chair in a way that makes it stackable.

After the success of the Panton chair, there were a number of chairs worldwide that were inspired by this production method.

And with the introduction of cheaper thermal plastics, the path became clear for the mass production of the Monobloc.

In 1972, the French designer Henry Massonnet launched the Fauteuil 300.

But it probably took until 1983 when the Grosfillex Group launched a resin garden chair that the Monobloc was sold in large quantities at a cheap price.

The chair is produced using injection molding.

Here, polypropylene granulates are heated to 220 °C and injected into a mold that forms the chair.

The name Monobloc derives from this method as the end product is made from a single unbroken material.

The molds for such production are expensive and cost hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of dollars.

But the production is greatly scalable since it requires little workforce, time and low material costs.

As a result, a single chair in production only costs about $3 and is usually sold for around $10.

Today, there are dozens of different Monobloc designs available.

Ones with vertical or horizontal slots or without them; with handles and different shapes and all sorts of different colors.

But still, you know a Monobloc when you see one.

You could also see the chair as a result of some kind of market evolution.

The chair has evolved with material thicknesses perfectly adjusted so that they are as thin and inexpensive as possible, but still stable and durable.

A chair that is weather-proof, stackable and light.

Fundamentally, there's not much you can change about it.

It works universally around the globe.

Maybe it is a perfect design that fulfills everything a designer aspires to, but you might still hate it.

And this is where context comes back to play.

How we read a design depends on our knowledge of it and what it reminds us of.

Maybe we just don't value it enough.

These wide plastic chairs are everywhere so we might as well start liking them.

Thank you so much for watching.

I hope you enjoyed it.

If you did, please leave a like and subscribe that way you support more videos like this.

Also, if you want to read more about this topic, check out the video description for some links to articles that were really helpful in making this video.