What would a night out in Glasgow look like in 1956?

A train, bus or tram, in the traditional Glasgow 'Corpy' colours takes you to the city centre. Wrap up for the quick walk from the Buchanan Street station through the ever-present rain, before settling down with thousands of others to be entertained in the luxury of one of Glasgow's many theatres.

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The Glaswegian Eames Chair was a winner of 'THREE', a collaborative project between citizenM, Vitra, Bute Fabrics and The Glasgow School of Art, exploring reuse rather than replacement, inspired by Glasgow as host city for the UN's COP26 Climate Change Conference. David's winning entry has been fabricated and will now remain in use at Glasgow's citizenM hotel. A video with more project info can be seen on citizenM's website. The project has been featured in Wallpaper*.

 

The Eames Lounge Chair was launched in 1956, when the location of Glasgow’s citizenM would have been surrounded by theatres. Some remain, whilst of those gone, names such as the Empire Theatre, or Apollo, where Billy Connolly famously performed 13 consecutive nights, persist in Glasgow’s collective memory. Minutes away is Buchanan Bus station, where a transport hub has been delivering Glaswegians to their nights out for over a hundred years.

 

Inspired by the irreverent comedy and theatricality of Glaswegian performers and artists such as Billy Connolly and George Wyllie (whose Clyde Clock sculpture stands outside the bus station), the Glaswegian Eames Chair has anthropomorphised the iconic Eames design, wrapping it in a shawl to provide protection from the Glasgow weather. Patchworking of the seat cushions and shawl limits the need for new fabric, allowing the use of offcuts and the incorporation of salvageable leather from the original design. Textiles were selected from the Bute Fabric range in colours inspired by traditional Glasgow Corporation transport livery. The patchwork pattern, designed to be reminiscent of the fabrics often used to upholster public transport seating, was developed from a motif made of the art deco lighting of the Empire Theatre. 

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Photographer -  Connor Mollison, Images courtesy of citizenM