Not so ugly

Photography by Eric Laignel for Interior design
website link below.

Ugly Betty may not be the coolest or most credible show for designers to be watching but you might be surprised. To match the colourful, playful and outlandish humour of a series set in the office of a fashion magazine, the set needed to be able to play second fiddle to the characters whilst also being able to hold it's own when need be. Apparently the ipod was the original set inspiration (not exactly original huh?) but the Ugly Betty set could be said to more resemble the iphone, with it's classic smooth hull accessorised with colourful apps.
There were so many amazing chairs, lamps, desks (outfits!) that could be written about from the series but there was one that just kept popping up in every episode of the fourth and final series that just stole the show - The Living Tower by Danish designer Verner Panton.

Photo from Vitra website - link below

Designed in 1969, the 2m by 2m and 67cm deep cube costs a cool $15,000. The living tower provides 4 levels of seating and can also be split apart, something the directors regularly took advantage of to frame shots. Unfortunately we never got to see the piece actually interacted with which is a shame as there are oh so many ways it could have been used in a show like Ugly Betty.
The chair can be visited (and bought!) at the Vitra Museum in Basel (see June article on this blog).

Photo by Caroline Hather

Also featured in the show and by the same designer was the Amoebe Highback chair.

Photo from Vitra website - link below

Further Information:
http://www.interiordesign.net/article/483441-The_Beauty_of_Ugly_Betty.php
http://www.chaplins.co.uk/trends-and-ideas/the-beautiful-world-of-ugly-betty-featuring-products-from-knoll-vitra-cassina-flos-plus-many-more/
http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/home/products/living-tower/overview/
http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/home/products/amoebe-highback/overview/
http://designmuseum.org/design/verner-panton