With the Rico Dining Chair, the embracing Rico family has been expanded with a refined, elegant addition that can be customised to suit your personal style and space. Explore how the versatile chair was created and grew from an idea to the final product.

Rico Dining Chair

INSPIRATION AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Inspired by the need for an elegant and refined yet comfortable chair, the idea of adding a dining chair to the iconic Rico collection was formed. With this objective, our in-house Design team started the stimulating and challenging task of reinterpreting our classic Rico Lounge Chair in order to create an embracing chair perfectly suited for placing at the dining table or office desk.

To stay in line with the expression of the Rico collection, the team considered the proportions, shapes and curves of the original pieces. Agreeing that the seat of the chair should represent the voluminous, hugging curves of the Rico Lounge Chair, they designed a padded, upholstered seat with armrests that embrace the body, resulting in the dining chair having the same welcoming expression as the original Rico Lounge Chair.

The Design team also wanted the chair to be versatile while still fulfilling the functionality of a dining chair. Working with this as their objective, they agreed that the Rico Dining Chair should have two different leg options: a functional swivel base that would give the chair an architectural, luxurious expression, and another base consisting of four powder-coated steel legs to give the design piece a more classic and organic appearance. This allows the chair to be tailored to fit different spaces and needs.

When the expression of the chair was determined, the Design team worked with our Product Management team to ensure that the new Rico Dining Chair would be as comfortable as the other pieces in the Rico collection. After testing out several iterations of the chair, they chose the version that was both most elegant and comfortable.

BEHIND THE PRODUCTION OF THE RICO DINING CHAIR

Created from iron, the swivel base consists of four parts; the foot and the base of the chair which are both casted in a mould, and an inner and an outer tube which are cut to size and made to effortlessly slide into one another. A chrome finish is applied to provide the base with a polished surface, and the entire base is finally assembled by simply clicking the various parts together. With no visible screws, the base achieves a sleek, streamlined expression.

The production of the four-legged base begins by inserting a long metal tube into a special machine that bends the tubes according to set measurements. Once bended, the tubes are cut to size and placed in a welding jig, ensuring that one of the talented craftsmen or women can effortlessly create a uniform expression when welding the tubes together. Finally, the raw metal base is powder-coated, creating a set of durable and stylish legs. To protect the floor under the Rico Dining Chair, a felt or plastic glider is attached under the legs of both bases before they are shipped to Italy where the upholstery process occurs.

With the Rico Dining Chair, the Rico family has been expanded with a refined, elegant addition that can be customised to suit your personal style and space.

The seat of the Rico Dining Chair is produced at the same Italian factory as the other pieces in the Rico collection. This factory specialises in upholstering furniture, using mostly locally sourced components. To begin with, they receive the shell for the seat from an Italian subcontractor. The shell itself consists of two parts: a backrest and a panel seat. To ensure that the chair is comfortable, these two parts are covered with injection foam before they arrive at the factory. Upon arrival, the complete shell is assembled by securing a metal bracket to the plywood panel seat, and the factory can begin the upholstery process.

Because the Rico Dining Chair is part of our Customisation Concept, the fabric used to upholster the chair is selected by the customer. The chosen fabric is cut by a large machine to limit fabric waste and is later sewn together by the hands of skilled craftsmen or women, ensuring that the finished chair will have a detailed expression. After this, one of the trained artisans meticulously fit the fabric onto the seat and secures it with a staple gun, resulting in a sleek and elegant expression.

Once the seat has been upholstered, the Italian factory attaches the desired base, and the chair is now complete and ready to be shipped to its final destination.

AN ELEGANT AND EYE-CATCHING ADDITION

With the Rico Dining Chair, the Rico family has been expanded with a refined, elegant addition that can be customised to suit your personal style and space. The embracing, upholstered seat combined with either the architectural chrome swivel base or the organic powder-coated legs presents a voluminous, eye-catching interpretation of the classic dining chair. Place it around the dining table to offer guests a comfortable, inviting seat during lively dinner parties, or use it as a luxurious desk chair in your own home or at the office.