Smash Cult: Talk to the hand!

Lenny Kravitz's bathroom in Paris

Pedro Friedeberg's (b.1936) Hand Chair is one of the most iconic, recognizable pieces of furniture in circulation. Favoured by many interior designers, the original chair dates back to 1962 but, in recent times, has been claimed as a must-have item for the avant-garde home owner. It's one helluva cool chair and I have to admit that I'm a big fan. And to think that Surrealist Friedeberg intended it as a bit of a joke on the design establishment!

In order to escape the terrors of war-torn Europe, Italian born Friedeberg moved to Mexico with his family at age 3 and never left. An artist and designer, Friedeberg was one of only two Mexican artists to be officially recognized by Andre Breton as part of the Surrealist movement. The other was Frida Kahlo.

Friedeberg is known for his eccentricity and for bucking convention. In fact, the Hand Chair was conceived as a parody of the "form follows function" principle touted by the likes of Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. He once said in an interview: “I didn't like all those right angles, I admired Gaudi, The Barcelonan architect. I hated functionalism – the idea, like that of Le Corbusier's, that houses were supposed to be 'machines to live in'. For me, the house was supposed to be some crazy place that made you laugh.” Laughing all the way to the bank, I'm sure. I just saw one of his chairs for sale on eBay for a cool 16.000 dollars!