The Manolo Lounger

Project Info

John Galvin says the inspiration for his Manolo Lounger came from two different sources. The first being his admiration for chair designers Hans J Wegner and Finn Juhl. The second point of inspiration was a high heel sketch by the designer Manolo Blahnik. The back legs of the chair are loosely based on this tech, which led to the chair’s name.

The Manolo Lounger uses more than five different jointing techniques and there is not a single 90-degree angle in the entire piece. The seat is beveled in two directions, tapers from 12mm to 28mm in the centre and the top backside of the chair is hand carved to follow the splayed back legs. The front two legs are mirror images of each other, with hand-carved twisted details. The brass detail, which passes through the are into the back of the seat gives the chair increased rigidity.

The judges said the chair’s ‘concept is very simple’ and it was ‘beautifully made’.