Gonçalo Chair
Seat on a Portuguese typical esplanada (terrace) and very probably you will seat in a Gonçalo Chair or in a variation of the original model. These chairs appeared during the 1930s and 1940s but the definitive model was mastered by the Portuguese locksmith Gonçalo Rodrigues dos Santos in the 1950s. Since ever, in Portugal, we socialize in esplanadas, chatting about this and that or just contemplating the ocean if the esplanada is placed in the waterfront. The chair is exported to everywhere namely to countries so distant as Australia or United States of America. The popularity of Gonçalo chair contributed to its nickname of Portuguese Chair becoming an attractive and inspiring vintage icon that draws the attention of architects and designers. And after all it is a metallic painted chair, in a tubular steel structure, composed by four elements, namely two tubes, a backrest and a seat: 1) a tube that defines the two back legs, the support to the arms and the upper contour of the backrest; 2) a tube that defines the two front legs and the contour of the seat; 3) a curved and slightly inclined backrest; 4) a seat slightly reclined with a curved edge.
Author: Fátima Pombo
