Edmund Homa

Prof. Edmund Homa (born September 14, 1927) is a Polish furniture and interior designer, a professor at the Fine Arts Academy in Gdansk and a scholar at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He designed a plethora of furniture which hit the mass production.
Homa's main conception is to develop designer's ability to creatively shape the form of furniture which is inextricably linked with its usage function (ergonomics) and conctruction. This is achievable in certain producing conditions.
Background
Early years
Homa was born in Chojnice in the Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. During the war, he was working as an assistant of the window display decorator in a textile and garment shop. After highschool, he decided to study at the School of Fine Arts in Gdansk at the Faculty of Architecture. Before receiving his diploma, he had worked in the Ship Design Office where he had been designing the interior finishing of ships. After his graduation in 1955, he quitted his job in the Ship Design Office and started to work independetly as a designer. He was designing interiors of public buildings, cafes, neon signs, mosaics, exhibitions as well as advertising materials.
Working in the furniture industry
From 1962 till the beginning of 1970's, Homa was cooperating with Furniture Industry Union. It was an organisation which controlled the production of furniture in Poland. At this time, Homa was working with a few factories that started to hit mass production with various designs of seats. A great deal of them were displayed at and were awarded grand prizes.
Despite Homa's cooperation with the Furniture Industry Union, many piecese of his furniture has never hit the procuction. The main reason for this was the reluctance of policy makers controlling this branch of industry to introduce innovative constructions on the market. Communist economy was to meet quantitative standars. Furniture must have been simple and adapted to mass production which was usually made by outdated machinery. For example, chair no. 106 did not hit mass procution due to its refined construction which demanded a lot of manual processing. Moreover, this chair was supposed to be produced from exotic wood. At that time, this kind of wood constituted a luxury good and was out of reach.
Chair no. 106, designed by Homa, has currently hit mass production by polish-german company POLITURA. The premiere of the chair took place on The International Interiors Show in Cologne.
Scholarship in Denmark
In 1968, Homa was sent to Denmark for a scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. It was his first important time abroad. At the Academy, he was working at the Faculty of Furniture. The faculty was led by a professor Ole Wanscher who was a famous Danish designer.
Work at the Academy of Fine Arts
From 1963 to 2009, Homa was working at the School of Fine Arts in (named as Academy of Fine Arts since 1996). In 1994, he was granted the professor's title.
Apart from Homa's didacting vocation, he was particulary interested in Homo sedens (the seated man). This theory links evolution theory with the evolution of the manner and function of sitting. In his academic work, he paid a lot of attention to adapting seats to particular consumers. He also stressed the fact that civilizational development demands on designers to use the tools offered by sciences such as anthropology, anthropometry, physiology and orthopeadics. Homa relied on Swedish anatomists' works, mainly dr Begnt Akerblom and Grandjean's.
Main design
* Chair no. 106 from 1967, designed in a few versions, has currently hit the mass production.
* Chair no. 134 from 1967 is a seat from the series of chairs whose seatbacks were woven and had a stable construction. It was awarded at various shows. It was a part of the equipment of the rooms at Forum Hotel in Warsaw.
* Chair no 120/110 from 1967 was a part of a line of chairs with woven seatbacks.
* Chair no. 142 from 1969 was an armchair from lounge suite produced on a mass scale.
Present
During the International Interiors Show in Cologne in 2016 the chair no.106 was presented for the first time. Designed by Homa, the chair has never hit the mass production. Additionally, at the IMM in Cologne, there was an exhibition devoted to Homa and his work.

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