Boutique Design | boutiquedesign.com

(September 2010) posted on Tue Mar 30, 2010

Collaboration with Brit Michael Young Brings New Aesthetic

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Aluminum chair company, Emeco, has introduced Lancaster, a design collaboration with British designer Michael Young, set to launch at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile April 14 to 19 in Milan.

“I have worked extensively with the aluminum manufacturing process recently, and with some of the best equipped factories in Asia,” said Young. ”I was looking at the ways to join other materials with aluminum over the last few years and thinking about a chair.”

The new collection of barstools, tables and stacking chairs couples cast aluminum seats in machine-polished and dark anodized finishes with carved ash-wood legs, representing Emeco’s first component-based design.

“I feel passionate about working with natural materials that live forever,” said Young. “Wood and metal are really the materials that connect to the human, so there was no question that the richness of their aging processes is a prefect combination. I felt that using wood would create a softer edge to a product whilst the aluminum would keep the sophistication and heritage. For me, the new chair was much needed, not as a vanity but as good sold piece of industrial hardware for both domestic and contract markets.”

Founded in 1944 to craft all-aluminum chairs for the US Navy, Emeco was purchased by Gregg Buchbinder in 1998 who befriended renowned French architect, Philippe Starck and began to create the series of products that combined Emeco's manufacturing capabilities with Starck's sleek designs.