Live from Milan: architects Foster + Partners have designed new versions of their aluminium chair for Emeco, plus new tables and a stool.

The 20-06 chair, inspired by the original Emeco Navy chair (see previous post), was introduced last year, and the new products were launched at the Milan furniture fair this week.

Emeco's press release follows:

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20-06 ALL-ALUMINUM CHAIR BY FOSTER AND EMECO

A SLIGHTLY ANONYMOUS CHAIR BY A VERY FAMOUS ARCHITECT.

Emeco, the Aluminum Chair Company, introduces “20-06", an aluminum chair, stool and table project by Foster and Partners, the London based architectural design studio. “20-06" recalls Emeco’s classic 10-06 Navy ® Chair – the all-aluminum icon first made for submarines in WWII, while expressing a refined structure and modern inference. Both “20-06" and the classic 10-06 have an estimated 150-year lifespan.

“20-06" will launch at Milan’s 2007 Salone Internazionale del Mobile this April and has been selected by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum for its 2006 Triennial.

The sleek new chairs, stools and tables feature an ultra-slim, all-aluminum frame, tempered for strength and hand made at the historic Hanover Pennsylvania factory using Emeco’s proprietary “77 Step Process".

The ergonomically shaped aluminum seat and back are hand welded, resulting in a minimal, seamless appearance. “20-06" is super-strong, yet uses 15% less aluminum than the original Navy ® Chair. Of that metal, 80% is recycled aluminum, qualifying as an environmentally sound product.

The lightweight chairs will stack 10-15 high and retail for US$ 385 –the same as the 10-06 Navy ® Chair. Bar and counter stools will sell for around $ 400. “20-06" passes BIFMA requirements and is guaranteed for life.

Lord Norman Foster said, “I appreciate the anonymous character of the new chair – it meshes seamlessly with our vision for interior space. The new “20-06" is the result of a genuine collaboration between the Foster Studio and the Emeco Team and will contribute to Emeco's remarkable history."

Gregg Buchbinder, Emeco’s Chairman, notes, “Norman Foster and his group have fused modernist form with established craft. The Foster Studio combined advanced technology, inventive geometry, attention to detail, and sensitivity to ecological considerations with Emeco’s unique manufacturing process to make a wholly new design. A Foster building and an Emeco chair are both modern in character, yet demonstrate a great respect for the past."

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