Aside from its visual allusions to an embryonic form, Marc Newson’s Embryo Chair of 1988 was also to provide the visual language for much of what was to follow in his work. As the designer has remarked, ‘I’d been subconsciously developing a style, and with that piece […] I defined what that style was.’ Commissioned for the 'Take A Seat' exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, it captured the optimism and humour, the references to both surf and space cultures, and the biomorphic industrial style that have defined Newson’s work ever since.
Made of injection-moulded polyurethane foam over an internal metal frame, and upholstered in industrial neoprene, it was Newson’s most technologically advanced project to date. The chair revealed his fascination with the interplay between the interior and exterior of an object, an idea, to which he has returned time and again. The Embryo Chair attracted the attention of manufacturers first in Australia, then Japan, then Italy, effectively launching Newson’s international career.
Text: Libby Sellers
