Following an initial collaboration in 2022, Cassina and One Block Down have joined creative forces again to shine new light on an iconic piece: the Zig Zag chair by Gerrit T. Rietveld. The limited edition run uses color to connect Zig Zag to Rietveld’s work and the De Stijl art movement, which focused on simple forms, linear compositions, and primary colors. As such, this new release of Zig Zag, with its clean lines and striking geometry, is available in red, yellow, and blue.
Zig Zag was born in the early 1930s and its cantilevered design was truly original at the time. An architect by trade, Rietveld was known for his experimentation and, along with fellow Dutch creative Piet Mondrian, was revered within the Neoplasticism movement, which advocated for a purified version of abstract art that placed focus on simple shapes and primary colors.
For their initial collaboration, Cassina and One Block Down overlaid sheet metal to the wooden structure of the Zig Zag chair to fashion a new iteration of the seemingly unstable form. The latest version utilizes the same materials, realized in three hues Rietveld would historically employ when seeking to express an object’s true essence. The essential reversed “Z” shape of the chair draws visual focus to its basic geometric structure and its vertical, oblique, and horizontal lines.
To celebrate the new version of the iconic design, One Block Down employed another icon of design: the Piscina Scarioni, an historic public pool in Milan. The colorful, new Zig Zag collaboration plays against the architectural grandeur and grayness of the city pool site for a true expression of creativity by design.
The latest Zig Zag chair is available online here.
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