David Rowland

David Lincoln Rowland (February 12, 1924 – August 13, 2010) was an American industrial designer who is best known for the 40/4 chair he created in the late 1950s, a stacking chair so named because 40 chairs can be stored in a stack 4 feet (120 cm) high, with sales in the millions.

Biography

Rowland was born on February 12, 1924 in Los Angeles. An only child, his mother was a violinist while his father was an artist who served as art director of the Haggin Museum in Stockton, California. He served in the European Theater of Operations with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After completing his military service, Rowland earned his undergraduate degree in 1949 from Principia College and was awarded a master's degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art.^[1]

He moved to Manhattan, where he found work with the industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes. Working on his own in a low-rent apartment in Upper Manhattan, he went through dozens of designs and prototypes of a chair that could be stored in a minimum of space.^[1] By 1951, Rowland demonstrated a model of the chair with seating surfaces only one quarter of an inch thick, described by The Christian Science Monitor as a "transparent chair".^[2] He finally created a design for a replacement for the folding chair that he first called the "40 in 4 chair", a wire-framed chair with a sculpted seat and back that got its name from the ability to nest 40 of the chairs in a stack four feet high which would occupy 20 cubic feet (0.57 m³) of space. It took eight years before he was finally able to find a buyer interested in purchasing the chair, when Skidmore, Owings and Merrill ordered 17,000 of the chairs on behalf of the University of Chicago, selling a steel and plastic version of the chair for $16 each.^[1]

The chair took off, earning critical recognition in winning the grand prize at the Milan Triennale and was included in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection.^[1][3] It was recognized by the American Institute of Interior Designers in 1965.^[4] As of 2010^[update], the chair was manufactured by OSI Furniture in the U.S. and Howe Furniture in Denmark. Selling for $175 to nearly $300 per unit, the chair has seen use at St Paul's Cathedral for the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer and on submarines of the United States Navy.^[1]

Rowland died at age 86 on August 13, 2010, at his home in Marion, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, the former Erwin Wassum.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Hevesi, Dennis. "David Rowland, Maker of a Tidily Stacked Chair, Dies at 86", The New York Times, August 25, 2010. Accessed August 26, 2010.
2. ^ Hoffman, Marilyn. "'Transparent Chair Show's Off Decorative Springs", The Christian Science Monitor, August 30, 1951. Accessed August 26, 2010.
3. ^ Staff. "U.S. Exhibit Takes Top Prize in Milan", The New York Times, September 26, 1964. Accessed August 26, 2010.
4. ^ O'Brien, George. "A.I.D. Gives Awards to 14 Designs", The New York Times, January 5, 1965. Accessed August 26, 2010.

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Name	Rowland, David
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Date of birth	February 12, 1924
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Date of death	August 13, 2010
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