Western Living’s Classic Chair March Madness

This is how the editors of a design magazine do March Madness: pitting 16 classic chair designs against one another.

In the world of college basketball, March is a big deal. (It’s also apparently a big deal in the European hare-breeding circuit. Who knew?) March Madness is a time for star athletes to shine as they battle it out in the biggest single-elimination b-ball tournament in the U.S.Athletics are all well and good, but here at Western Living, we prefer our competitive spirit to have a bit more designer flair. So we’re celebrating March Madness in our own special way: we’re pitting 16 classic chair designs against each other to determine what, exactly, is The Ultimate Chair. We even made a bracket! That’s how you know we’re serious.For round one, we’ll be asking designers from across the West to weigh the pros and cons of each matchup. Then we’ll leave it to you, dear readers, to tell us which sweet seat has the edge. The winner moves on to round two, and so on, and so on. You get it. You’re smart people. We believe in you.So follow along, day by day, as heroes emerge, hearts are broken, and one chair emerges victorious.

Your Round One Contenders

We’ll update this as stories are posted!Saarinen Womb Chair vs. Arne Jacobsen Egg ChairEames Lounge Chair vs. Mies van der Rohe Barcelona ChairHerman Miller Aeron vs. Starck Louis Ghost ChairPlatner Chair vs. Bertoia Side ChairBreuer Wassily Chair vs. Rietveld ChairWegner Wishbone Chair vs. Starck Masters ChairEames Molded Plywood Chair vs. Eames Organic ChairEames Eiffel Chair vs. Panton Chair

Round Two: Quarter-Finals

Saarinen Womb Chair vs. Platner ChairEames Lounge Chair vs. Breuer Wassily ChairHerman Miller Aeron Chair vs. Wegner Wishbone ChairEames Molded Plywood Chair vs. Eames Eiffel Chair 

Cast your vote!