folding bistro chair (hidden city philadelphia)

Object: folding bistro chair

Location: “The Porch” at 30th St. Station

Background: This chair, first described in the “Simplex” patent registered in 1889, is made by Fermob, the same French company that makes “the Luxembourg chair“—the green metal, tubular steel stackable chairs scattered around Paris’s Jardin du Luxembourg.

According to Fermob’s website, it was “immediately popular among lemonade sellers of the day, as it was quick and easy to pack away, which allowed them to avoid paying the licence for a permanent bistro terrace.” Kind of like the street vendors in NYC who can roll their wares into a bundle and be off quicker than you can say Prada. (Read the rest of “background” at Hidden City Philadelphia.)

Context: The Porch at 30th Street Station, carved out last year by the University City District on a tiny budget of $300,000 is, as it stands, no Jardin du Luxembourg. That’s an unfair standard to hold any public space to, much less a brand new one, but the UCD invites it by trying to establish a Luxembourgian vibe.

A press release about its 2012 programming, which I coincidentally received as I was writing this post, says, “As the name suggests, UCD sees this new space as Philadelphia’s front porch, a welcoming entryway to the city, as well as a place to linger and socialize, and a place to entertain and be entertained.  The Porch serves to balance the indoor grandeur of 30^th Street Station with the wonder and expanse of Philadelphia.” (Read the rest of “context” at Hidden City Philadelphia.)

{chair image from fermob}