Take a Seat in Weil am Rhein
The City of Chairs
                        
Chair and table-these are the first objects to appear when we settle into a new place.
We greet our guests with the invitation to "take a seat." In Weil am Rhein, this is no empty phrase, but part of a new cultural identity.
 

                         

                                                                                          Lassù - Alessandro Mendini
 

In 1989, the Vitra company inaugurated a museum designed by Frank O. Gehry to house its extensive chair collection, which has since become one of the largest and most significant design collections world-wide. The architectural park on the premises of the Vitra production site, including not only Gehry's masterpiece but also buildings by such renowned architects as Tadao Ando, Nicholas Grimshaw, Zaha Hadid, and Alvaro Siza, has brought about a transformation of
the image and identity of this historical railroad city in the Dreiländereck, the corner where France, Switzerland and Germany meet.

Design is an integral aspect of life in Weil am Rhein. More than 20 retailers, restaurants, and businesses already identify with the motto "City of Chairs." Such support finds expression in the presence of oversized designer chairs (in a scale ranging from 1.5:1 to 8:1) on numerous roofs and in city plazas.