Marcus Shaffer, associate professor in Penn State’s Department of Architecture, has made and donated a chair designed by award-winning designer Enzo Mari called Sedia 1 to Penn State University Libraries’ Iconic Modern Chair Collection. The collection, found in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library in the Stuckeman Family Building on Penn State’s University Park campus, supports the University Libraries’ 2020–2025 strategic plan goal of advancing University research by diversifying and maximizing library materials through a broader concept of library collections.
Italian designer Enzo Mari’s wooden Sedia 1 chair was recently constructed by Marcus Shaffer, associate professor in Penn State’s Department of Architecture, and donated to Penn State University Libraries’ Iconic Modern Chair (Image via PSU Libraries)
Henry Pisciotta, arts and architecture librarian and head of the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library, said collecting chairs as design examples is another way the University Libraries can serve teaching with shared resources.
“The purpose of starting the chair collection a couple of years ago was to support experiential learning,” Pisciotta said. “Professor Shaffer’s idea of adding the Mari chair is brilliant because the whole idea of that design was for people to learn by doing. So, now it’s my favorite chair in the group of nine we have collected.”
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Art history faculty member Craig Zabel initiated the Iconic Modern Chair Collection, purchasing seven chairs and two stools from the 1890s to the 1970s designed by internationally recognized modern architects and furniture designers, using grant funds he was awarded after receiving the Penn State Teaching Fellow Award in 2016.
Library visitors are encouraged to visit and sit in the chairs and stools in the collection during the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library’s operating hours. The library is one of five University Libraries locations on the University Park campus. The University Libraries has locations on all Penn State campuses. The Department of Architecture is part of the Stuckeman School in Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
