云深不吃醋🍶

Absolutely nothing about this design is convenient to execute in wood. Every piece is curved, most have compound curves. This is artisan craftsmanship: it's inherently slow, manual, and skilled. Notice, also, that most features of this chair must be thicker and heavier than on the plastic chairs being imitated. Injection-molded chairs can be produced in this shape in a matter of minutes with far less material at very low cost.

The standard one-piece injection molded plastic chair is referred to as a "Monobloc", literally just describing it as a single piece. The history of this chair is fascinating, and it all starts back in 1946, with the D.C. Simpson Monobloc.

Douglas Colborne Simpson was an architect mostly active in the 40's and 50's, designing a lot of classic mid-century style buildings in Vancouver, Canada(1). In 1946, as part of a government project to find new uses for materials developed for WWII, he and engineer James Donahue developed the design you see above, simply called the Monobloc(2). Unfortunately, we don't know a lot about this chair as it was only ever a prototype, and no modern examples have survived, nor have most of the records surrounding it(3). To my knowledge, we don't actually know if this was technically injection molded, or crafted some other way. We can't even be sure if it was technically the inspiration for the designs that followed, but no matter the case it has lent its name to the entire genre.

Plastics technology was simply not what it is today back in the 1940's. Most people would have had very little plastic in their homes, most likely just a few pieces of Bakelite (the first commercially viable plastic, made from a formaldehyde based resin in a Bakelizer, the best name for any industrial manufacturing equipment ever). Over the following few decades, however, as a wider variety of plastics were both developed and came down in price to the point of commercial viability, the concept of the plastic chair was revisited, and the first folks to revisit it were Helmut Batzner, in 1964, and Joe Colombo, in 1965.

This, is the Bofinger chair, Batzner's design:

The elements of D.C.Simpson's Monobloc were pretty alien compared to todays mass-manufactured plastic chairs, but here we start to see some more modern elements come into play. The first thing you probably notice is the front legs, which have that characteristic visible 90 degree bend in them for added rigidity, plus a much more comfortably leaned back and slightly scoop-shaped seat. We also see much more support in the back rest, with broad triangles allowing for a more efficient use of materials without losing back support.

Similar to Simpson, Batzner was not an industrial designer, but an architect, and this chair had a very specific purpose. Batzner and his team designed it as part of a project to build a new theater in Karlsruhe, Germany, which required a large amount of additional seating which could be easily packed away into storage or distributed around the theaters rooms by the staff (4). As such, it was designed to be both lightweight and stackable, so several of them could be moved by one person, and they could be stored compactly. This piece of furniture was a huge hit a the theater, and was so popular that 120,000 units would ultimately be manufactured and sold around the world, with each one taking just 5 minutes to produce (4).

Around the same time, Joe Colombo enters the scene with this:

Colombo was an artist in several mediums who, after taking over his families appliance company in the 50's, made the shift towards architecture and interior design, and started designing a wide array of trend-setting furniture(5). The chair shown above is known as the Universale (sometimes referred to as the Chair Universal 4867), designed in 1965. This chair differs pretty greatly from the ones that came after it, it many ways it represents a different path that could have been taken, but it's also very widely referenced as an inspiration for what is broadly considered the origin of the white plastic chair the world over.

Enter: the Fauteuil 300

This is, arguably, the first iteration of the white plastic chair we all know today. Designed by Henry Massonnet in 1972, the Fauteuil 300 and it's imitators are, collectively, the single most widely used piece of furniture in the entire world(6). Before that, however, it was something else entirely: works of art.

What might be hard to recognize in hindsight is that all of these chairs described so far were not everyday objects. They were on the forefront of modern design, they made use of brand new materials and manufacturing processes, and at the time they were each made, they were slick, stylish, and fairly expensive. Despite the speed at which they could be manufactured, these innovative, high-end chairs rose sharply in cost up through the early 1980's due to the sheer demand for them. They weren't cheap spare seating you stuck in the garage, they were placed at dining tables and on fine patios, and they were a wildly popular talking point. That's not to say their expense justified their artistic value, but rather that their expense and popularity was a product of their status as highly contemporary and boundary-pushing designs.

With the price of plastics declining after the 70's, the increasing accessibility of injection molding to manufacturers, and the widespread popularity of these designs, copycats proliferated rapidly, and eventually drove the price down. This era, in the 80's and 90's, is when these chairs became cheap an ubiquitous, and where they became manufactured the world over.

And here is where we reach this piece, "Plastic chair in wood", by Maarten Baas, and a piece of the history I've left out so far. The Monobloc was designed to be made out of wood. Like the the other chairs designed by Joe Colombo, like the chairs that predated the Simpson, the Monobloc was designed with the intention of using laminated plywood, but as the artists and designers behind them began to experiment with new materials they fell in love with the idea of making them from plastic, and so they did. They redesigned and redesigned until they made something that would be impossible to make in wood at a price most people could afford, but which could be made from plastic in mere minutes. The organic curves and thin profiles would take so much time, so much waste material, so much skill and effort to create if made of wood that they could never be furniture, they could only be art. Baas' chair is a perfect, beautiful reflection of that.

That, in brief, is the history of the design of the white plastic Monobloc chair, but it's not all there is to know. In fact, it's kind of just the start. I've linked my sources below, but I would strongly recommend checking out the German documentary Monobloc, by Hauke Wendler. It goes over the history, but it's far more interested with what the Monobloc means, and what it's place is in our world today. The impact it's made, the better and the worse, and what it says about us. It's fascinating, and well worth your time.

sources below.

We're back, baby! The Topxian Bang will set sail once again, and we want you to help us decide how we run our event. All WWX ships are welcome!

Please fill in our interest check!

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Modao Zushi - Moxiang Tongxiu & Related Fandoms Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin/Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, past wangxian - Relationship, unrequited chengxian - Relationship Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Lan Qiren, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Pregnant Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Trans Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Thirteen Years of Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian's Death, Dominant Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Bottom Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Lactation Kink, Ambiguous/Open Ending

Summary:

In his rooms, robes had been laid out in Jiang colours. Deep purples, blues, and lilacs embroidered with lotus petals greeted him. They were fine garments, beautifully made, but Lan Wangji could not stop the ache in his heart as he put them on. This, far more than the night before, made the marriage all too real. And there would be no going back. From this day forward, he was Jiang Wanyin's spouse, a new leader in the Jiang sect. That was something he could never take back.

--

Before Wei Wuxian's death, Lan Wangji realizes he is pregnant.

No one can ever know who the father really is.

Art for the 2026 @bottomjibigbang (my first!)

Inspired by @sassybluee 's lovely fic found here

https://archiveofourown.org/works/84978316/chapters/224341801?view_adult=true

LWJ' complex feelings about wearing the Yunmeng Jiang colors had me feeling some kind of way as well. Cue my love for patterned papers.

by LizzyPanic

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Explicit  Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply  Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji & Luo "Mian Mian" Qingyang, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji & Nie Huaisang  Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bottom Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Top Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Light Dom/sub, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji-centric 

Summary: 

He shakes Wei Ying's hand. "Lan Zhan." He pauses. "Do you only hit on the Chinese international students?"

Wei Ying barks out a laugh. "No. I just hit on the hot ones."

Lan Zhan feels a flush of pleasure at the description. The back of his neck feels hot. He's still holding Wei Ying's hand—or maybe Wei Ying is holding his, casually, intimately, like they do this all the time. He's running his thumb in slow circles along his knuckles. "What do you do when your line works?"

"Ah." Wei Ying's expression has changed again. The colored lights from the dance floor sweep across the planes of his face, cast his angles in alternating shadows. He looks distant. Mysterious. "Well, I take them home. I give them what they need."

The flush is more like a boil now. Lan Zhan is a tea kettle whistling. "I see," he murmurs. He feels like he's held in sway, a snake in a basket. "And how do you know what they need?"

---

一心一意 | you can put a baby to bed but (2823 words) by frostferox Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Modao Zushi - Moxiang Tongxiu & Related Fandoms Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan Characters: Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, Jin Ling Additional Tags: Slice of Life, Kidfic, Pregnancy, soft and comforting vibes, specifically the blessings of knowing that there’s stuff going on but someone else has it handled, Chinese-American Diaspora, Modern Era

Summary:

👻 KARMA CODE | 因果 👻

My @bottomjibigbang fic is here at last! Featuring art from the talented @blirbie and beta work by the wonderful @trickybonmot! ❤️ Thank you both so much for your support and encouragement throughout the entire writing process; I couldn’t have done it without you!

Summary:

”This spell embodies our clan’s ancestral values of consensus and balance,” Lan Zhan’s brother says. “Right now, both of you are in Mr Wei’s body. In three days, both of you will be in Ah Zhan’s. And so on, back and forth, ad nauseum. The only way to lift the spell is for both of you to embody everything it represents, completely and wholeheartedly, of your own volition.”

*not just which one tastes the best, a balance of all factors that matter to you, such as environmental impact, nutritional balance, allergens, etc

- soya milk

- oat milk

- almond milk

- rice milk

- coconut milk

- pea milk

- cashew milk

- peanut milk

- walnut milk

- flax milk

- op I can't believe you forgot-

- I refuse to drink plant milk / I'm allergic to literally all of them / etc

👻 KARMA CODE | 因果 👻

In Rememberance of the Washerwoman (7403 words) by scholomancefan Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luo Binghe & Luo Binghe's Adoptive Mother Characters: Luo Binghe, Luo Binghe's Adoptive Mother Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Adoption, Minor Luo Binghe/Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, POV Luo Binghe

Summary:

Luo Binghe copied row after row of the characters for "regret" and didn't look up as his mother walked past hauling the heavy basket of laundry. She'd be going down to the river again to wash it. And by the time she got back, Luo Binghe would have written the character for regret five hundred times, and etched it in his heart.

("near or in a Jewish community" in the poll options is to the best of your knowledge, and whatever you think" near" constitutes)