Vitra La Chaise
A white shell that seems to float above a cross of oak. The Eames design makes empty space part of the furniture.
One side rises like a shoulder; the other stretches into a long, shallow shelf. An oval opening interrupts the white surface. Below it, narrow metal supports meet a wooden cross. La Chaise has the improbable presence of something soft that has stopped moving.
Charles and Ray Eames designed it in 1948 for a furniture competition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Gaston Lachaise’s Floating Figure supplied the sculptural reference. The connection is visible in the suspended, reclining form, but the result has an identity of its own: a chair that asks you to walk around it.
The object, precisely
Leave room around it
The outline is the reason to consider La Chaise. Crowding it between a sofa and a cabinet would hide much of what makes it compelling. Before imagining the photograph in your home, mark out its 147-by-87-centimetre footprint and leave a route around it. That rectangle is the object’s size, not the circulation space it needs.
There is no upholstered cushion in this composition. If your brief starts with long reading sessions, easy repositioning or accommodating several household preferences, arrange a proper sit before making this your principal lounge chair. A sculptural silhouette cannot establish comfort for your body.
Admire first. Buy for the room you actually have.
La Chaise earns its place here through the tension between a broad, flowing surface and the fine structure carrying it. It is an exceptional candidate for someone who wants furniture to carry the visual weight of a sculpture. At this price and scale, admiration is a complete response; ownership should follow an in-person encounter and a measured room.
For a different Eames proposition, explore the Lounge Chair and Ottoman. For another approach to the reclining silhouette, see the Cassina LC4.
Vitra: current materials, dimensions, US price and photograph · Eames Foundation: design history. Reviewed September 21, 2026. Design assessment from documented construction and official photography; comfort has not been tested by Row & Ledger. Photograph: Vitra.