The Portuguese Chair

Last autumn, I was intrigued by this chair that seemed to populate every restaurant and café terrace in Lisbon. Scattered across cobblestone streets, under striped awnings and along sunlit squares. It appeared in every shade imaginable – from deep burgundy to soft taupe – its finish ranging from glossy to matt. Some were pristine, freshly painted; others were chipped, their metal frames bearing the patina of years under the Lisbon sun. If anything could be called an icon of the city, this chair surely was. As I watched a waiter effortlessly stack five of them, the metal legs clattering as he trolleyed them across the street. The tower of chair moved steadily, like a dignified gentleman navigating the bustle of commuters.  I wondered who designed this incredibly versatile chair?

The original is often attributed to a master metal craftsman Gonçalo Rodrigues dos Santos who worked at the Arcalo store along Rua Alegre in 1940s. Arcalo specialised in metal components - clamps for machine belts and heels for woman’s shoes- but it was Gonçalo who bent two simple curvilinear tubes into existence, creating a chair that would outlive generations. One tube formed the backrest and rear legs and the other the seat and front legs, crafted with a bending tool invented by Gonçalo himself. By the 1950s, this chair has become an inseparable part of Lisbon’s streetscape. It lined pastelería where locals sipped bica and read morning newspaper, and stood resilient through the seasons. 

L to R: 1956 Esplanade of the Cross of Olives photographed by Armano Maia Serôdio, Arcalo factory and Manuel Caldas welding the Gonçalo chair

Decades later, a former Arcalo worker, Manuel Caldas revived the company, securing the trademark in 1997. The Gonçalo chair was reintroduced at the 1998 Lisbon World’s Fair Exposition and has been in production ever since. Today, his son, Alexandre Caldas carries on the legacy. Working alongside Master Serafim (one of Gonçalo's apprentices) Alexandre launched his own brand, AroundtheTree in 2013.  His Portugese Roots Chair, a wooden reinterpretation of the classic metal design won a silver award from the A’Design Awards and was exhibited in the Museum of Design and Fashion (MUDE). In 2020, Alexandre further internationalised the chair with the BICAchair brand, making it  both collectible and accessible. But the story doesn’t end here. 

Another metal furniture manufacturer, Adico lays claim to the Portugese café chair with its model 5008, which has been in production since the 1930s. In 2016, designer Pedro Sottomayor collaborated with Adico to create the Maria and Manel chairs in compliance with new city regulations to rejuvenate the city with the Gonçalo chair. The new chairs adopted a similar metal frame but were made much lighter with aluminium and a hole punched in the seat to drain rainwater. 

L to R: Portuguese Roots Chair by Alexandre Caldas, Bica Chair, Manel Chair by Pedro Sottomayor, Adico 5008

Despite debates over its true origins, whether it is made by Arcalo or Adico, called the BICA chair or Gonçalo chair, it’s ubiquity in Lisbon tells its own story. More than a product of industrialisation, the icon is an artefact of everyday life, shaped by those who use it, adapt it and make it their own. The chair has endured across generations, not because of a single creator, but through continuous reinvention by many. An object becomes an icon when replicated and embedded into the identity of a place, becoming part of the city's collective memory. 

The same could be said of another chair – the Monobloc. 
Like the Portugese chair, the Monobloc has been adapted widely elsewhere. Sometimes it appears smaller or shorter to suit specific spaces and uses - though often faded and worn under the sun, waiting to be recycled. The Monobloc is a global citizen. It is lightweight, easy to produce and cheap – qualities that make it resilient, democratic and globally adopted. It blends so seamlessly into the everyday that few question of its existence. While often  attributed to Henry Massonnet’s Fauteuil 300, designed in 1972, its cultural expressions vary widely. In Singapore, the red version has become synonymous with with coffeeshop furniture. Its stool variant known as the UNICA stool, was designed by Singaporean Chew Moh Jin for Singa Plastics Limited in the 90s. In Vietnam, a smaller Monobloc variation has become integral to street food culture. These adaptations speak to how objects become localised, even as their forms remain globally recognisable. The Monobloc reveals both the homogenising force of global production and the inventive specificity of place. Where the Portugese chair evokes local nolstagia, the Monobloc is defined by anonymity. 

L to R: A Monobloc chair found in Gangwon, South Korea, Photo of PHUNK in a coffeeshop by Singaporean visual archivist Aik Beng Chia, A bình dân moment in Saigon by Jim Selkin

On the flip side, not every city embraces such utilitarian designs. Plastic chairs were banned from public spaces in Basel between 2008 to 2017 with its ubiquity deemed unsightly.  Every city has a chair that defines its rhythm, street culture, or way of gathering in public. If your city could choose its ‘iconic’ chair – not by decree, but through use and memory – what would it be? 

Notes:
1. Heng Zhi, Monobloc – A Chair for the World, March 17, 2017
2. Justin Zhuang, Design50: The Humble Kopitiam Stool (1990s), March 4, 2016
3. Barfi.ch,  Legendary ‘Monobloc’ chairs allowed again on Basel’s street, March 19, 2017