Germans Ermičs’ new design references modernism and the sunset

Amsterdam-based, Latvian designer Germans Ermičs is best known for his imaginative interpretation of glass furniture. His ‘Ombre’ glass chair, simply featuring intersecting glass panels in graduated colours, was a tribute to Shiro Kuramata’s iconic ‘Glass Chair’ and it has been a Wallpaper* favourite since its launch in 2017. 

Ermičs now presents a new glass seat, this time a throne-like, sunset-inspired number. The sculptural chair, aptly named ‘Sunburst’, follows the same structural simplicity of its predecessor, with a new volume and a solar colour palette ranging from black that turns red and evolves all the way to yellow and clear glass. The simple geometry of Ermičs’ new design gives space to the chromatic explosion of the glass, resulting in a chair design that sits somewhere between minimalism and maximalism.

‘“Sunburst Tall Glass Chair” expresses a delicate balance between two clashing polarities: a perceived fragility and an imagined state of solidity,’ says Ermičs. ‘With its three vertical glass panes, caught in a sublime moment between stability and collapse, the high back and sides provide personal space and protection, although the sitting experience may be closer to that of a falling throne.’

A limited edition of eight, the new chair is presented by Parisian gallerist Maria Wettergren, as part of an exhibition of furniture designs by Ermičs as well as Russian born Danish designer Boris Berlin and Danish architect Daniel Berlin. 

Says Wettergren, ‘When inviting Boris Berlin to exhibit in my gallery, the designer responded by asking his son, architect Daniel Berlin (of Snøhetta) and Germans Ermičs (whom he effectively considers his adopted son), to create works with him, some collaboratively in pairs, others individually, in a twilight zone between art, design and architecture.’  

Titled ‘Modernism Crystallized’, the exhibition includes the ‘Sunburst’ chair, as well as a ‘Mirror Beam’ in the same colours and a black mirrored table, designed by Ermičs in collaboration with Boris Berlin. For this show, Ermičs also explored marble, a new material for the designer, who created a simple cylindrical stool with a chiselled surface, bringing a three dimensional texture to the stone’s colours. Furniture by Boris Berlin follows a similarly simple geometry, with stools and chairs (which he designed solo or in collaboration with his son) based on basic forms crafted out of wood. 

The three designers’ material-oriented approach, the gallery explains, is paired with new technologies and craftsmanship, resulting in a new ‘perception of form, light and space; urban aesthetics with a tendency towards geometric abstraction’. 

INFORMATION

‘Modernism Crystallized’ is on show until 11 September 2021 at Maria Wettergren Gallery, Paris
germansermics.com

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