MEDICI Chair by Konstantin Grcic

When viewed head-on, the MEDICI Chair by German designer Konstantin Grcic looks like a headless man with his legs apart and his arms at his sides with the elbows slightly bent. Grcic describes his chair thusly:

Mattiazzi make furniture in wood, using both traditional means of production and the newest digital production technologies. MEDICI was born on Mattiazzi’s factory floor. The chair was inspired by the material, the machinery and, of course, the skill and craftsmanship of the people we worked with.

Right from the beginning, I was looking for a distinct grammar for my design, a language that would express the characteristics of wood. I liked the idea of working with planks. They signify the very beginning of the production process – a tree trunk that is cut into slices. I like the way in which a carpenter joins wood. It is immediate and direct. The construction remains visible and easy to read. Structure turns into form.

MEDICI is a low chair with a comfortably reclined posture. Its generous dimensions give it an embracing confidence. The chair can be used as a solitary piece of furniture or in small groups, in private or public, both indoors and out. It is produced in three different woods: American walnut, Douglas fir, and thermo-treated ash, a wood that is suitable for outdoors. The Douglas fir version is available in natural as well as in yellow and grey stain.