Designer Peter B. Staples Finds Comfort in a Classic
The lighting designer—and one of this year’s Dwell 24—hunted down the quintessential director’s chair.
The lighting designer—and one of this year’s Dwell 24—hunted down the quintessential director’s chair.
I grew up in a Gustav Stickley Craftsman-style home, which was really beautiful but dark. The front porch, however, was really bright and light. We ate every dinner there in the summer, sitting around a table on a bunch of white director’s chairs, like the one I have now. Some of my best childhood memories are from sitting at that table.
I don’t know exactly which chairs my parents had because so many people make these. I wanted to find the classic, most quintessential, most ubiquitous version. I Googled "director’s chairs," and there’s a Wikipedia page, and it said who held the first design license, a company called Gold Medal. So I Googled that, and the Chair Store popped up—and they had it! It wasn’t complicated, right? It was just like, that’s so amazing—it’s something that’s survived since 1892. And within two minutes, I was able to find it.
When lighting designer Peter B. Staples, founder of New York studio Blue Green Works, moved to a Chinatown apartment last year, he sought to "peel back and tone down" his surroundings in hope of finding clarity amid the pandemic’s chaos. He painted the space a warm white color and added straightforward furnishings that project an air of simplicity. Next to a Donald Judd–inspired sofa he built from plywood and around a mission-style dining table, he placed several director’s chairs like this one, its design holding immense value for him, sentimental and otherwise.
Photo: Jamie Chung
I love objects that have a certain purity to them. And I think this is a great example—a strangely iconic and quiet piece of design that, in a very simple way, fits its need and does it with a lot of style. There’s something concise about it and something that’s just really honest. You look at it and know exactly how it does what it does, and it goes on to do exactly what you think it’s going to do. It’s perfect as is.
