Studio Robert Stadler redesigns
an icon of Parisian BISTRO CULTURE
OUTDOOR – In the early hours of the
morning, after the cafés in Paris have closed
and the streets are quiet, strollers have a rare
chance to get a glimpse of the inner workings
of the French capital. You can smell – but
not see – baguettes à l’ancienne baking in
boulangeries as you make your way along the
tranquil Seine, uninterrupted until the book
vendors open their stalls.
The nocturnal tour reveals another
icon of Paris asleep: the city’s infamous bistro
chairs, stacked high in the corners of every
darkened restaurant, awaiting the show that
sunrise brings. Introduced in 1885 by French
company Maison Drucker, the rattan chair
outlived la belle époque, but bistro culture
currently begs an update. Last year France’s
National Institute of Statistics and Economic
Studies reported that 25 per cent of Parisian
bistros – about 300 – closed their doors
between 2014 and 2018. As a result, many pro-
prietors are campaigning to secure UNESCO
heritage status for their establishments.
While the threat remains imminent in
the wake of Uber Eats and grocery-store salad
bars, an upgrade of the classic bistro experi-
ence by means of design may also promise
survival: enter the Corso chair, a new ver-
sion – by Studio Robert Stadler – of Maison
Drucker’s iconic rattan chair. Stadler’s chair
is a streamlined interpretation of the original
seating, which he created by swapping the
wooden base for an aluminium one, while
utilizing the know-how that went into manu-facturing the traditional model and adding
colour to the seats, backrests and legs. Corso
is humidity-resistant, an important feature
in a chair that is often exposed to all sorts of
weather, and it’s much easier to stack than was
the original design.
Some may argue that a chair is just a
chair, but they probably wouldn’t be French or
a reader of this magazine. The rattan chairs of
Paris tell an age-old story, and now, with a
21 st-century stamp of endorsement, bring
a dash of colour and a vote of confidence that
may help ensure the constancy of bistros in
the city of light. – LGM
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