Ricardo Blanco Silla Plaka (folding chair) 1973

Blanco designed the Plaka chair from a single piece of plywood, transforming it from a flat board into a three-dimensional object. “The chair is a design object that allows each author to express his or her intentions,” he wrote. With the Plaka, Blanco’s goal was to craft a folding chair with minimal thickness when closed; he added a hole at the top of the chair so that it can be hung from the wall. The chair’s name is derived from the Spanish word placa, which translates to “plane” and is also the term for the type multi-laminate wood the designer used.

Gallery label from Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980, March 08, 2024 – November 10, 2024
Additional text

Blanco diseñó la silla Plaka a partir de una sola pieza de contrachapado, transformándola de un tablero plano en un objeto tridimensional. “La silla es un objeto de diseño que permite a cada autor expresar sus intenciones”, escribió. Con la Plaka, el objetivo de Blanco era crear una silla plegable con un grosor mínimo cuando estaba cerrada; agregó un agujero en la parte superior de la silla para que se pueda colgar de la pared. El nombre de la silla se deriva de la palabra española placa, que refiere a “plano” y también es el término para el tipo de madera multilaminada que utilizó el diseñador.

Publication excerpt from Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America, 1940–1980 (en español), March 08, 2024 – September 22, 2024
Medium
Painted plywood
Dimensions
Folded: 31 1/2 × 19 11/16 × 1" (80 × 50 × 2.5 cm)
Credit
Committee on Architecture and Design Funds
Object number
45.2024
Department
Architecture and Design

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