The plastic editions of two of GUBI’s most popular dining chairs, the Beetle and the Bat, have been reimagined for outdoor use. Reexamining their materials, aesthetics and function has led to the addition of an outdoor treatment, opening up new possibilities and making the chairs perfect for both indoor and outdoor use. Special additives in the molded polypropylene shell help to prevent the color from fading due to weather damage, making two already versatile chairs even more dynamic. Their light weight enables them to be easily moved, breaking down barriers between internal and external spaces.
Referencing the ingenious construction of insect shells, the Beetle Dining Chair has become one of GUBI’s most iconic designs and a global success story within less than a decade. Its durable outer shell is a continuous, curvilinear form, reminiscent of the strong and graceful contours of the insect that inspired it. Despite its robustness, it is designed to gently flex in response to the body’s micromovements, echoing the complex movements a beetle can make while keeping its parts rigid and defined. This intelligent flexibility provides unparalleled comfort in this typology, even after prolonged sitting periods.
The new Outdoor Collection maintains the distinguishing elegant lines of the Beetle and Bat, now combined with the informality and lightness of the outdoors – where they can be closer to nature. The chair’s base was developed to maintain these proportions while offering structural integrity. Its coupling mechanism with the shell is organic in form, and the way in which its conical leg design blends with the structure under the seat reflects a branching tree – a design detail that was inspired by nature but respects a minimal and geometric aesthetic. In this way, the chairs approach the outdoor space, while preserving the qualities and values of the indoor version.
The manufacturing process of both designs pushes thermo-plastic technology to its limits. The Beetle and Bat Dining Chairs’ elegant single-curved outer shells now benefit from the addition of UV additive to the polypropylene formula from which they are injection molded. This strengthens the polypropylene molecules protecting against the exposure to UV radiation from sunlight that otherwise degrades plastics. Just like the indoor plastic edition, the Beetle and Bat Outdoor Collection is designed for disassembly and fully recyclable.
