The Lancaster collection was our first collaboration with Emeco and it came out of a very specific observation. We had been working extensively with aluminium manufacturing in Asia and had spent years thinking about how to combine it with other materials in furniture. Our work with Giant on the Cityspeed bicycle had pushed us away from standard section metal tubing, and when we began thinking about a chair, it became clear that the sculptural leg form we wanted could only be made in wood. When we discovered that Emeco had partnered with an Amish wood factory in nearby Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the project found its name and its logic simultaneously. The collection is Emeco's first component-based design: die-cast seats and backs in 80% recycled aluminium, combined with reclaimed solid ash legs handcrafted by Emeco's Amish partners. The seat and back are available in dark anodised and machine polished finishes, the wood in natural and dark stain ash. Chairs stack six high. The collection was presented at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan in 2010 and later expanded into barstools and tables. Wood and metal are really the materials that connect most directly to people, and the richness of how both age was the foundation of the whole collection.
Further Reading
Dezeen https://www.dezeen.com/2010/01/31/lancaster-by-michael-young-for-emeco/
Emeco https://www.emeco.net/collections/lancaster-by-michael-young
