Opposite of Ornate Peacock Chair

The original Peacock Chair is very ornate, with an extremely large and ornate back, most of which isn’t strictly functional. From a functionalist perspective, the “The ReTired Recliner”, which is a chair I made for CVEN 5544 (Solid Waste Management and Resource Recovery), is an opposite of the Peacock Chair aesthetic, as it’s completely functional, with a minimal base that didn’t involve cutting any car tires, and a short back that supports a regular sized human’s back but not head and definitely doesn’t extend above the head. The somewhat bicycle tire split into three strips on the chair’s back has a decorative quality, but is also very functional, and so I would argue that this is still opposite of the peacock chair’s aesthetic.

From the perspective of beautiful handiwork and aesthetics, there are other opposite possibilities. A mass produced chair – completely removed from the human touch – that has become iconic worldwide for its functionality is the Monobloc. The Monobloc is lightweight, very efficiently stacked, and highly durable making it the best low-cost option for many large gatherings, or in situations where chair mobility is important. While peacock chairs are expensive and rare to find in person, the monobloc is incredibly cheap and the vast majority of people have likely encountered these multiple times throughout their life.

Another ‘opposite’ of the Peacock chair aesthetic could be a chair without any curves, and without any delicate details. While both are made out of organic tree/plant material, the DIY 2×4 chair below is definitely very far removed from the Peacock Chair.

While this exploration has been interesting, I don’t think I will incorporate many aspects of a modern, utilitarian aesthetic because I really like the ornate Peacock Chair aesthetic. That said, I really like the simple back of my ReTired Recliner and the way it was easily made by utilizing the existing structure and strengths of the bicycle tire. I may try to incorporate similar features into the peacock chair im making out of tires, adding beauty/design in the weave of the tires for the back, sides, and bottom of the chair.