Industrial Design Visits Emeco

Industrial Design students from the Materials and Processes – Fabrication class and the Furniture Design class got to visit furniture manufacturer Emeco recently Prof. Rob Melville and Prof. Kate Casiano organized the visit to see the multi-step production of the iconic 1006 Navy Chair alongside the manufacture of seating by some of the most famous furniture designers in the world such as Naoto Fukasawa and Jasper Morrison.

Emeco (Electric Machine and Equipment Company) was founded in the 1940s in Hanover PA. During WWII the U.S government gave them a big assignment-make chairs that could withstand water, salt air and sailors, also make the chairs lightweight and strong and build them for a lifetime. From these requirements was born the classic aluminum Navy chair, still in production today and tested to last 150 years.

The students were able to follow the production of this chair through the 77-step process of manufacture from welding to bending and pressing of legs and seat through to chemical hardening and finally finishing and polishing. Skilled local metal workers make up the Emeco workforce, taking great pride in the final product.

The last part of the tour allowed the students to try out sitting on some of the original prototypes in the factory museum. Chairs by designers such as Frank Gehry and Philippe Starck were tested for comfort and weight before the group headed back to Philly.