MC-CS Bent Plywood Chairs by Keith Muller and Michael Stewart, 1968 Canada
Image — Page from TRUE NORDIC Exhibition Catalogue - Gardiner Museum, 2016.
This 1968 MC-CS Chair by designers Keith Muller and Michael Stewart is an iconic piece of Canadian design history. The chair has been featured in a number of exhibitions highlighting innovative Canadian design, its relation to Scandinavian design and innovative use of modern materials and manufacturing. Manufactured in Canada by “Ambiant Systems” in the post war boom these stackable bent plywood drew chairs their inspiration from the nordic design coming into appreciation at the time. They have been highlighted as one of Canadas first foray in to modern furniture design and away from what is now known as classical Canadiana.
Image — From The Design Exchange Permanent Collection - MS-SC Stacking Chair Keith Muller and Michael Stewart, 1968
With Canadas abundant wood supply it’s easy to see why almost all the design from that emerged from that era would use Canadian wood as the material of choice where in Europe and America chrome and plastic where much more abundant giving these chairs a classical Canadian feel without taking away from their uniqueness.
The chair was apart of the 2016 exhibition held at the Gardiner Museum titled TRUE NORDIC which aimed to highlight the influence of Nordic Culture on Canadian Design which featured the chairs in one of the 3 original colour ways. The chair was also apart of “ The Modern Eye: Craft and Design in Canada, 1940-1980 at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in 2011. It is also apart of the permanent collection at The Design Exchange in Toronto.
