when the wind blows...

Who knew a draft of air could be so inspiring

No! I'm not talking not the wonderful but harrowing Ryamond Briggs book  (which brings a tear to my eye, even just thinking about it. Poor Jim and Hilda) but another wind altogether.

If I was to talk about a chair by award winning designer Alexander White, telling you it was inspired by a gust of wind from a subway grate,  then I am willing to bet ,that a picture has already leapt  unbidden into your mind...

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So it will come as no surprise that he has designed something he calls the MONROE chair...

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The MONROE Chair is an exploration of form and function through repetition.

It uses 82 identically CNC batch-produced components which swivel around a central axis in order to create a complexly curved and comfortable armchair.

The challenge was to create one flat shape that contains the four main components of an armchair as the back leg gradually morphs into the backrest and the armrest into the front leg. Creating a distinct aesthetic entirely defined by the simplicity of the manufacturing process.

Named MONROE after its striking resemblance to Marilyn Monroe’s white pleated dress as she steps over the subway grate in NYC.

This is one seriously striking chair!

The  actual dress Monroe in the fim "The Seven Year Itch" was sold at auction in June 2011 for $4.6 million

That's a whole lot of money for one little dress.

The chair also looks stunning in wood, yet somehow it now looks more like a bird in flight to me.

More phoenix than sex goddess....

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Queen Marie