Fernanda Fragateiro, MR10 Double Chair, after Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (2009)
In MR10 Double Chair, after Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (2009), Fragateiro reiterates Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s canonical design of the same name: a web of German-made Gütermann silk thread, in shades of blue and grey, links two of Mies’ tubular steel frames, in turn are further linked by extra tubing. The work addresses the design collaborations of the two colleagues and lovers, which, though vaguely acknowledged, are not properly documented by design historians. Lilly Reich, a talented industrial embroiderer and textile designer, taught interior and furniture design at the Bauhaus, and yet remains a little-known contributor in the context of the male-dominated Bauhaus. Fragateiro’s re-evaluation of Reich’s legacy adopts her forbear’s simple, functional aesthetic, using, with a featherweight touch, threads that evoke the female realm to which Reich was repeatedly relegated