An Ode to the White Plastic Chair

August 8, 2010 at 9:51 pm · Filed under Arab Culture, Art, Music

A family sitting in the garden on a hot summer night, eating cold watermelon and drinking hot mint tea. An old woman waiting impatiently in a governmental building for his paperwork to be complete. A man resting downtown in front of the Al-Husseini Mosque, watching the hustle and bustle of the heart of the city. A collection of random men paying their respects over death.

Different settings. Different people. Different occasions.

The one constant: the white plastic chair.

This is an ode to this design disaster, function heaven.

I hate the way you look. I hate the way you instantly cheapify even the most beautiful scene. Yet, I gotta give you this, my dear white plastic chair: without you, the world wouldn’t be the same.

I’m glad you exist.

http://www.elaph.com/elaphweb/Resources/images/Politics/2007/9/thumbnails/T_7e9cbd5a-9ec1-4f0f-b461-14480d1c4712.gif






  • http://jaraad.wordpress.com jaraad

    Thank you for this lovely post. I hate these horrible white plastic chairs soooo much. Chairs should be made out of wood ONLY. Although, they are cheap, durable, and can be used almost anywhere anytime, still I hate their cheapness and gut.
    p.s. no offense to plastic lovers :)
    .-= The latest from jaraad´s blog ..International humanitarian act at a traffic light =-.

  • Chris

    LOL Yeah, no doubt… so classy they are! I got some real ugly green ones too! :P

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  • Stephen

    Oh check out the cushions on the plastic chairs in the third photo, how fancy :p

    I hate when I lean back on these chairs and it collapses cos of its plastic crapness

  • YBaggili

    LOL… Nice one…
    I constantly have the same thought!
    I actually considered documenting the ridiculous alternatives of this masterpiece :)
    Maybe someday I’ll save the world and send in a radical re-design… and watch my dreams get mass-produced into reality!
    I’m glad they exist too.

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  • http://nousha.wordpress.com nousha

    عندك حق :))

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  • YBaggili

    “The Monobloc Chair” a.k.a. “the White Plastic Chair” has a group on Facebook!
    Check it out!
    http://goo.gl/HVHG

  • CW

    nice! ever read Neruda’s “ode to common things”?
    and again how true! potential cult kitsch or kitsch cult….

  • http://andfaraway.net Roba

    Glad you guys liked that! :)

  • http://www.reclinerchairreviews.com Chris Tebbatt @ Leather Recliners

    Most plastic chairs do not look very appealing, whether they are white, black, blue, green or any other color. Still, everyone has to recognize that they are very functional and the low cost of production justifies the massive commerce of these chairs. Beautiful or not, it’s one of the few products that is really accessible to almost every pocket.