Felt chairs

Here at the Canadian Centre for Architecture have 3 Feltri chairs
designed in the late1980s by architect Gaetano Pesce.  They have a
somewhat nebulous status:  They're considered collections objects,
and yet they are placed in a public area and are used as seating by
museum visitors.  This results in frequent damage to the structure
of the chairs.

The Feltri chair is made of one piece of thick wool which forms a
u-shaped one-piece back and base.  The lower part of the felt - the
base of the chair - is impregnated with a thermosetting resin for
stiffening. The seat itself fits into this u-shape felt frame and is
attached to it with visible cords and with 8 unseen screws with pass
through the underside of the based an into the resin-impregnated
felt frame.  The manufacturer's site does not mention the presence
of screws.  It says only that ''The seat is fixed to the supporting
"frame" via hemp strings..."  Does anyone know if these screws are
original or could they be a later addition?

Here is the problem: The weight of a sitter on the chair forces the
flexible felt base of the chair to open outwards a bit, causing
stress at the points of attachment and friction between the screws
and screw holes.  When the sitter gets up and the chair base relaxes
back into its non-weighted position there is again friction on the
screw holes. Eventually the screw holes become enlarged and the
screws work themselves out. And when they do, the points of the
screws scratch and damage the underside of the chair, and the seat
is left supported only by the cords. The cords quickly become
stretched and frayed.  Two years ago our conservator filled the
enlarged holes with epoxy and re-inserted the screws, but
unfortunately they have worked themselves loose again.

You can see pictures of the Feltri chair at:

    <URL:http://www.cassinausa.com/contemporary/357_feltri.html>

Does anyone have recommendations on how to repair the chairs and
prevent this problem from recurring (other than making the chairs
off limits to visitors, which is not an option)?

I am also contacting the manufacturer and the architect to see if
they have a solution to this problem, but would appreciate any
suggestions you may have.

Karen Potje
Chef, Conservation et Restauration
Head, Conservation and Preservation
Centre Canadien d'Architecture
Canadian Centre for Architecture
514-939-7001 x 1236


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:32
                  Distributed: Monday, January 9, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-32-015
                                  ***