DIY Ovalia Chair Serves Your Futuristic Fantasies

The 1960s were a heady time, with both society and the language of design undergoing rapid changes over a short period. Back in 1968, Henrik Thor-Larsen exhibited his Ovalia egg chair for the first time, at the Scandinavian Furniture Fair. With original examples now antiques, and with even replicas being prohibitively expensive, it might just be worth considering building your own if you need to have one. Thankfully, [Talon Pascal] leads the way.

It’s a replica that’s built with accessible DIY tools and techniques. The frame is built up from plywood parts, cut out with a jigsaw. These are then assembled with glue and screws, forming two halves of the full-sized egg assembly. The exterior is then covered with thin strips of wood, as opposed to the fiberglass construction of the original. This is smoothed out with a judicious application of wood putty and plenty of sanding. The interior is then lined with foam before the chair is upholstered with red fabric. We’re not sure exactly how the trim ring is fitted, but it gives the chair a nice clean finished edge and rounds out the project nicely. There are even embedded speakers so you can chill out with some tunes in your ovaloid sanctuary.

It just goes to show that there’s value in the old adage – if you can’t buy it, build it! Perhaps, however, you’re outfitting the office – in which case, would something from the Porsche range suffice?

16 thoughts on “DIY Ovalia Chair Serves Your Futuristic Fantasies

  1. Must weigh a ton. The point of the original was, that it was made out of lightweight fiber-reinforced plastic over a simple mold – to showcase new efficient techniques in furniture, kinda like the futuro house.

  2. Too bad he upholstered it.
    A good coat of wax. I little more carpentry. An afternoon of fiberglass and he could have used this as a buck to build a mold. . Then he could have had another chair every couple of days.

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