Riley Table Process Book

IARC416

Chair Table Berlin Chair
History of Furniture Transformations Project

History & Context

Timeline

After the design of the Red-Blue chair (1917), Gerrit
Rietveld continued his stylistic exploration under De
Stijl with the Berlin Chair. The chair was designed
in 1923 for the ‘Juryfreie Kunstschau’ in Berlin.
Later, in 1960, two new versions of the chair were
designed for the boardroom of the Rijksacademie
van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. A cushion
was used in this second iteration and the seat of the
chairman also featured a backrest.

Foundations

The use of flat panels defines this piece. Because
of this, the chair was also referred to as ‘the plank
chair’. A system of interrelated planes was created
and balanced asymmetrically. Because it was to be
placed in a dynamically colored model room (far right),
the palette of the chair was reduced to black, grey,
and white.

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IARC416 Form & Function

As Rietveld’s first asymmetrical chair, traditional
expressions of elements such as the seat, back,
arms and legs are sacrificed for the abstract display.
The oversized armrest allows for use as a small
table. A mirror of the chair is also available, putting
the armrest on the opposite side. The importance of
the plane is conveyed across the entire composition.

Materials and Construction

The black, grey and white planks are made of solid
oak, with a lacquer finish to provide the color. There
are no visible nails or screws holding the chair
together. It is assumed that some other, hidden
assembly method is used. The simplest guess is
that pieces were adhered together using a glue.
This provides an opportunity for design liberty
when transforming the chair into another piece of
furniture.

1.18” 17.72”
19.69”
Top

39.37”

2.36”

17.60”

15.75” 0.79” 5.91”

Front Side

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IARC416

DChaiimr ensions

CDhaiisr assembly

Plank Integrity

Because such care was taken to preserve the
integrity of the planks in the design of the Berlin
Chair, the same care is taken in the ‘disassembly’
of the chair. Each piece is cataloged with a number
based on position in the chair. From here, pieces are
separated in their entirety and grouped by the color
of the lacquer finish in the original chair.

Hierarchy Designation

The aforementioned color grouping is how levels of
hierarchy are chosen. The angled piece is used as
the pattern definition, being the primary element of
the composition. Planks with the same black lacquer
are given the same primary level of hierarchy. Grey
and white elements are given secondary and tertiary
levels respectfully. These distinctions are able to be
double checked by this tertiary level. Each element
in this category is used for support in the Berlin
Chair.

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IARC416

2 6
5
4
7
1 8
3

Primary
Secondary

Tertiary

6 37 2 4 51 8

ATabslesembly

7 2 5
8 4 3
1
6

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IARC416 Chair Primary
Secondary

Tertiary

6 37 2 4 51 8

Connections Table Primary
Secondary

Tertiary

Piercing 63 7 2 4 51 8

Face-Face Manipulate and Compile

Scale is manipulated to bring the assembly to the
size of an occasional table. Piece 2 is scaled up to
create the table top surface while piece 6 is scaled
down to create storage beneath.

Connections are hidden to maintain the integrity of
the planes. Piercing connections are made possible
by shoulders pocketed into the punctured element.
Face to face interactions are outfitted with dominoes.
Both of these details are meant to increase surface
area for adhesives that hold the piece together.

17.72”

32.48”

Proportioning

Manipulation of the scale allowed for the new
composition to exist as a coffee table. Earlier
iterations of the design were plagued with awkward
proportioning. The specific factor used to alter the
element size produced an elevation that is a perfect
square between the width of the table top and its
distance to the floor (ignoring protruding elements).

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IARC416

17.72”

DTabilemensions

Riley Table
Simplicity, Integrity, Hierarchy

Form

Simplification is conveyed
through the use of lines
and planes. Rotating
these planes defines
volumes across the full
composition.

12 Front

The introduction to this
form is a soft welcome.
Balance is important
in this first meeting. A
plane and a line can be
seen from each level of
hierarchy in this view.

Emmett Lockridge | IARCH416 | Prof. Neal Hubbell | Fall 2022

IARC416

Oblique

Planes and lines are
meant to balance at
many points across the
table. The oblique views
become an opportunity
to tip this scale to favor
planes.

Under

Beneath the table is
where connections are
most important. Even in
this orientation that is
rarely in view, integrity
of the elements is highly
important. No screws, no
brackets. Just lines and
planes.

Riley Table
Simplicity, Integrity, Hierarchy

Color

Colors used in this
table are primary colors
characteristic of the De
Stijl movement. Red
acts as the dominating
color in the composition,
highlighting the focal
moment of the piece.

Materiality

While colors are used to
highlight, the unfinished
material is meant to
recede. A light maple
is used to contrast the
vibrant colors.

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IARC416

Function

Plane and line intersect
to bring function to the
Riley Table. An exposed
storage area creates
a home and display
moment for books below
the main surface.

Hierarchy

As mentioned in Color,
the focus of the piece is
highlighted in multiple
ways. Form and placement
bring the plane to the
foreground, existing as
the only plane in the side
elevation.

Riley Table
Simplicity, Integrity, Hierarchy

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IARC416

Sources

https://rietveldoriginals.com/en/products/berlijnse-stoel-1923#product-details
https://design-milk.com/design-crossover-berlin-chair/