Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the BA2—a simple metal-frame chair with a wood backrest designed by Ernest Race in 1945 for the British manufacturer Race Furniture—90 of the U.K.’s leading artists, designers, and architects have been invited to reinterpret the iconic seat as part of a creative project called Re-Work It.
From Tom Dixon, Paul Smith, Alice Temperley, and Rose Uniacke to Daniel Chadwick, David Chipperfield, and Barber Osgerby, the designers have lent their unique creative twist to the BA2, and all 90 of the redesigned chairs are currently suspended from the ceiling in Selfridges’ main atrium in London, in a rather spectacular display curated by Fair & Co that runs through June 11. The special editions will be auctioned off starting on May 22 through the online platform Paddle8, with all proceeds benefiting the Art Room, a charity that provides art-led therapy for children.
Founded just after World War II, Race Furniture established itself as a material innovator working with limited postwar supplies; the BA2’s predecessor, the BA3, was originally fashioned using recast aluminum from retired British warplanes and upholstery made from parachute silk. Continuing the company’s tradition of creativity and original design, the Re-Work It campaign firmly brings Race’s legacy into a contemporary cultural context, with a charitable result.
“The BA2 chair for me has perfect timeless form, and I put this down to the collaboration between genius form maker Ernest Race and cofounder of Race Noel Jordan, who was a highly skilled engineer; together they were able to refine and reduce the cast-aluminum stiletto structure down to the last ounce,” says Stuart Finlator, managing director of Race Furniture. “My favorite redesign so far is Ian Ritchie’s reconstructed abstract airplane. It is both beautiful and poetic, the chair having been originally manufactured from re-smelted spitfire aluminum literally months after the war had ended.”
Through June 11 at Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London. Online auction commencing on May 22; paddle8om/TheArtRoom
Click here to see designers’ interpretations of the BA2 chair.
