Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Persimmon by Coca-Cola
About the Item
- Creator:Coca-Cola (Designer),Emeco (Manufacturer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 34 in (86.36 cm)Width: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Depth: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)
- Style:Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Contemporary
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:1-2 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Hanover, PA
- Reference Number:
Navy Chair
One of the world’s most recognizable chairs was originally designed by an engineer to be lightweight, fireproof, waterproof and strong enough to withstand a torpedo blast. If this sounds like the description of an industrial object and not furniture, it’s because that’s what the chair was meant to be. That engineer was Wilton C. Dinges (1916–74), and in 1944, in conjunction with experts from the Aluminum Company of America, he built a chair made of aluminum in response to the U.S. Navy’s call for seaworthy seating, suitable for use on battleships as well as submarines during World War II. This innovation is what we now know as the Navy chair.
To prove to the Navy that his chair was indestructible, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago. The chair bounced but did not break or bend. He secured the contract to manufacture the piece at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company, Emeco, the company he founded in 1940, in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Since 1944, hundreds of thousands of these chairs, known as Emeco 1006, or, simply, the Navy chair, have been produced by Emeco for use on battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines.
The Navy chair was meant to be utilitarian and functional, but it is undeniably beautiful as well. The chair’s aluminum silver body and spare design are pleasing, but the three vertical back slats and distinct curved indents that characterize its seat are the piece’s most recognizable features. Using soft recycled aluminum that requires a 77-step process to convert it into a material that is three times stronger than steel, the chair is also completely handmade by Emeco’s team of seasoned craftsmen. The furniture manufacturer has always been focused on sustainability and creating “things that last.” To that end, a single Navy chair is tested to last 150 years.
In 1979, California businessman Jay Buchbinder purchased Emeco. In the 1990s, as the company struggled financially, Buchbinder’s son Gregg noticed that influential tastemakers like Giorgio Armani and hotelier Ian Schrager had been buying the Navy chair. Emeco’s legendary piece had appeared in Schrager’s Paramount Hotel in New York City, thanks to architect and designer Philippe Starck. Buchbinder targeted this untapped, high-end market, and his efforts helped turn the company’s fortunes around.
The Navy chair has since found a home in a variety of spaces, from fine-dining restaurants to art galleries. Accordingly, it has also spawned countless knockoffs. The best way to identify an original? Look for a lightweight aluminum chair with three vertical back slats that could survive a fall from an eighth-story window.
Emeco
While they’re best known for their revolutionary Navy chair, iconic American furniture company Emeco makes a whole range of seating and other furniture — not just seaworthy chairs. The development of each product is guided by an eco-friendly ethos and pragmatic approach to design.
Emeco began to take shape during the 1940s, when the U.S. Navy needed a lightweight, fireproof chair that could withstand a torpedo blast and hold up to use by “big, burly sailors,” says Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco’s chief executive.
With experts from the Aluminum Company of America, an engineer named Wilton C. Dinges (1916–74) delivered, and the Emeco 1006 — that is, the Navy chair — an aluminum classic, was born. In order to demonstrate the chair’s sturdiness, Dinges threw it from the eighth floor of a hotel in Chicago, and when it landed, the chair bounced in lieu of breaking or bending.
The engineer secured a contract to manufacture the Navy chair beginning in 1944 at the Electrical Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco), which he’d founded a few years earlier in Hanover, Pennsylvania. In the ensuing decades, the factory’s craftsmen would stamp out by hand hundreds of thousands of Navy chairs for battleships, aircraft carriers and submarines — a process that requires more than 70 steps.
Today, the impossibly durable Navy chair, which is recyclable and made of at least 80 percent recycled aluminum, inspires knockoffs left and right and can be found in a variety of public settings, from upscale restaurants to hotels and offices. But it took time to get here.
In 1979, Gregg’s father, Jay Buchbinder, a businessman whose Long Beach, California, furniture company manufactured seating for fast food restaurants, purchased Emeco. The company hit a rough patch in the 1990s. When Gregg acquired Emeco from Jay in 1998, he took the $2 million in debt that came along with it. Fortuitously, Gregg learned that the Navy chair had taken on a new nonmilitary identity around the same time and that it was increasingly seen as sleek and retro in addition to being great submarine seating. Orders for the Navy chair were coming in from design luminaries like Ettore Sottsass, Giorgio Armani and a daring young French designer named Philippe Starck, who purchased a large number of 1006s for Ian Schrager’s Paramount hotel in New York City.
Gregg seized on Emeco’s newfound popularity, initiating a partnership with Starck, who would design the company’s Hudson Collection, a line planned for Manhattan’s Hudson Hotel that saw the Navy chair take on the form of a barstool and other pieces. He also partnered with Frank Gehry, whose Superlight chair for Emeco can be hoisted off the ground with one hand. Collaborations with Jasper Morrison, Jean Nouvel and others followed, and today, Emeco continues to build durable seating furniture from a range of recycled materials with a variety of designers.
Find authentic Emeco chairs, stools, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Hanover, PA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Beach by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy Chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Grass by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, Classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Red by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy Chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Snow by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Flint by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy Chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Emeco 111 Navy Chair in Charcoal by Coca-ColaBy EmecoLocated in Hanover, PACoca-Cola and Emeco collaborated to solve an environmental problem: Up-cycling consumer waste into a sustainable, timeless, Classic chair. Made of 111 recycled PET bottles, the 111 Navy Chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Navy Chair by EmecoBy EmecoLocated in Meulebeke, BEFirst built for use on submarines in 1944, the Navy Chair has been in continuous production ever since. This is a recent production in a very good condition.Category
Vintage 1940s North American Industrial Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Emeco Navy Collection Brushed Aluminum Side Chair 1006, a PairBy EmecoLocated in Philadelphia, PAEmeco Navy Collection Brushed Aluminum Side Chair 1006 - A Pair. Item features aluminum construction, original labels, very nice vintage item, quality Ameri...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Noa Chair NavyLocated in Cincinnati, USIs it possible for an inanimate object to truly embody the essence of a yogi? To possess strength and harmony simultaneously? To effortlessly stand in the face of the seemingly impossible and make it’s own reality? Ultimately balance is the beating heart of the Noa chair...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Scandinavian Modern Dining Room Ch...
MaterialsSheet Metal
- George 111 Mahogany Chippendale Dining Chair Reupholstered, Circa 1760By Thomas ChippendaleLocated in Lincoln, LincolnshireThis is a superb hardwood walnut or mahogany, Chippendale back, side or dining chair which we date to the mid 18th century, George 111rd period, circa 1760. The chair has a very well carved "Chippendale" back splat consisting of vertical interconnected ribbons with good detail. The top rail has a serpentine crest with central crisply carved detail with an acorn motif and well formed & carved ears with rosettes. The pegged and jointed legs are square with an inside chamfer back and front and the front legs are flute molded to match the side rails, with dovetailed "H" cross-stretchers. It has a drop-in seat which has been newly upholstered and webbed but could easily be upholstered in a fabric of choice. The proportion of this chair is excellent with very good width and a good rake to the backs and rear legs. The hardwood has developed a beautiful mellow colour and patina with age and polishing over the years. Overall a fine quality, English Georgian dining chair.Category
Antique Mid-18th Century English Chippendale Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
- Pair of ‘as-new’ Emeco 111 Navy ChairsBy EmecoLocated in Kennett Square, PAPair of gray Emeco Navy 111 chairs. Excellent condition, very light if any use. Measures: 15.5” W x 19.5” D x 34” H - seat height 18”.Category
2010s American Industrial Chairs
MaterialsPlastic
- Noa Chair Oak NavyLocated in Cincinnati, USIs it possible for an inanimate object to truly embody the essence of a yogi? To possess strength and harmony simultaneously? To effortlessly stand in the face of the seemingly impos...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSheet Metal