Abu Dhabi: A colourful, supersize chair looms into your view as you drive past Khalifa City A.
Mounted atop the showroom of Choufani Wrought Iron and Interior Designs, the 2.2 metre chair is made entirely of wrought iron and weighs a staggering 330 kilograms.
Andrea Choufani, project coordinator at the 33-year-old family run business, said she reckons the handcrafted masterpiece is the heaviest wrought chair in the world and that they have written to Guinness World Records to seek an entry.
From an idea to reality
So what prompted them to make this massive chair in the first place?
“The idea popped up during a family discussion about the designs of our new collection. We even made a sketch. But then some of us thought it was ridiculous so we put the drawing away. Much later, we stumbled upon it and decided to give shape to the idea,” Choufani recalled. A team of three designers, three blacksmiths and 10 helpers toiled for three months to make the chair in the firm’s Musaffah workshop.
“Once ready, we got Lebanese artist Jamil Mokaddem to create colourful floral designs on it,” said Andrea. “The goal was to make it appear as realistic as possible,” said Mokaddem who specialises in murals and trompe l’oeil (illusion paintings).
Challenge
Hauling the chair onto the showroom roof was another challenge. Andrea said it took 10 men to carry the chair to the roof where it now stands as an Objet d’art. Choufani Wrought Iron and Interior Designs has won several laurels for their work over the years including the prestigious Golden Anvil Award, honoured membership in the “Who’s Who of Professionals” and The Certificate of Excellence by the German Krieger Classic Iron Systems Establishment.
Andrea company said the company is now bidding for a Guinness World Record.
“It would be a great recognition not just for us but also for the entire city,” she said.
-The writer is an Abu Dhabi-based freelance journalist
