In September 2012 a UK-wide competition was launched to design a new chair for the historic Bodleian Libraries in Oxford. A call for entries resulted in a strong response of over 60 expressions of interest from designers and manufacturers.
Bodleian Library Chair Competition
After much deliberation, six award-winning designer/manufacturer partnerships were selected to proceed to the next stage of the competition. Three partnerships have been chosen to go forward and create a working prototype to be displayed and judged in September 2013 at the V&A. The winning design will be announced during LDF at the V&A.
The three shortlisted designer/manufacturer partnerships are:
Edward Barber & Jay Osgerby, & Isokon Plus
Matthew Hilton & SCP Ltd
AL_A (Amanda Levete Architects) & Herman Miller
The winning design is destined to become an iconic contemporary statement, and will proceed to production and installation in the new Weston library at Oxford University in Autumn 2014.
The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library with over 11 million items.
The chairs have to be comfortable as they will be well-used; it’s a tradition of the library, still zealously guarded, that no books were to be lent to readers!
Bodleian Library Chair Competition
Read about great British landmarks on VisitEngland’s Bucket List and another great university Cambridge’s Varsity Hotel
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