Chair squared: Richard Lampert

Within the restaurant industry, two of Richard Lampert's chairs in particular have proven themselves especially effective. Both are compact and stackable, comfortable and functional – important criteria for successful implementation in bars, restaurants, cafés or canteens. In their design language, however, they present two quite different appearances.

In Marco Dessì’s contemporary Prater Chair, traditional formal chair design meets experimental design. Each chair, made of birch plywood (multiplex), is unique. As a result of circular routing of the material, black phenolic resin becomes visible, thus giving this special chair its characteristic value. Among other places, it can be found in the Flanders Field Museum in Ypres, Belgium or at Google’s European Headquarters in London.

In contrast, Santa Lucia is a wickerwork chair which combines austerity and cosiness. With its rattan seat, the chair, designed by Bauhaus-trained architect and designer Herbert Hirche, creates a comfortable ambience while providing a distinctive surprise: the backrest also serves as an armrest.

Originally designed in 1969 for the Stuttgart Trattoria of the same name, the 'Santa Lucia' is equally suitable for indoor and outdoor use – for example, in the trendy restaurant 'El Cercle' in Barcelona, where numerous Santa Lucia chairs on the terrace above the old town invite you to a relaxed dinner, or in the restaurant of the25hours hotel chain in Frankfurt.

© Architonic