Best Chair Design 2020: Sakki by Martin Ballendat Tell a friend
"A minimal three-legged design, with a basic triangular shape, at first sight, the Stakki chair stands out like no other," states Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, architecture critic and chief curator of The Chicago Athenaeum's Good Design®.
"The German designer Martin Ballendat has created an iconic chair that is both visually and functionally unique – individual and absolutely unmistakable."
"Stakki is the best chair design for 2020," Narkiewicz-Laine continues.
The chair has also been recently awarded Good Design for 2020.
Ballendat and his studio have worked for numerous international companies and brands, designing furniture for residential use as well as for the non-domestic and office sectors.
He has always been fascinated by the function of chairs. In the case of Stakki chair, he has provided an extreme example of the designer's art.
He wanted to reduce the chair to an absolute minimum. His vision: As little as conceivably possible to provide the greatest possible functionality. A chair that is full of freedom and exceptionally versatile. The result now stands firmly on its own three feet.
Manufactured by VS Vereinigte Spezialmöbelfabriken GmbH & Co. KG and VS America, Inc., Stakki is extremely lightweight, stackable, and versatile in use – practical for indoor and outdoor use in educational environments and cafeterias, as well as offices, hotels, or living spaces.
Designed with sustainability in mind, the chair is made from a single part, and any production surpluses are directly reused for the manufacturing of new chairs.
The stepped shape of the glides and the concave leg profile make stacking easy and ensure stability while keeping the seat surfaces protected. Ten chairs can easily be stacked almost vertically on top of one another.
Stakki is made from stable, durable, and extremely scratch-resistant glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene. This three-legged chair is manufactured using multi-component injection molding, coupled with an internal gas pressure process. Even though it weighs less than 9 pounds, Stakki offers a very high level of stability. Its basic triangular form permits space-saving arrangements that leave the greatest possible freedom of movement for the legs.
Stakki permits a wide range of positions, whether sitting towards the front, the side, the back, or at an angle. Users can sit on Stakki from every side and still enjoy the same ergonomic comfort.
The chair seat has a small surface, but it is exactly the right amount to ensure all-round sitting comfort.
Stakki has been comprehensively tested and carries the GS "tested safety" label. It has been certified for indoor and outdoor use and has scored top marks on the lightfastness test, which evaluates the color-fastness of a material against the influence of light.
The chair is available in four colors – dark blue, light green, traffic red, and black grey.
Born in Bochum, Germany, Ballendat was the former head for Sedus (1983-1986) and head of design for Wiesner Hager (1986-1995). Since 1995, he heads his own studio Design Ballandat and teaches at the universities of Graz and Salzburg.
