. >> this is henning wÖtzel-herber.he lives in hamburg and he's partial to chairs -- more precisely, the monobloc chair. >> plastic chairs are basically like people. all people are alike but different. and all plastic chairs are alike but different. they have different shapes, colors and sizes, but in the end, they're all somehow the same. >> a chair has to have specific characteristics to be considered a monobloc. it has to be injection-molded and made of polypropylene. these plastic chairs have been produced the world over since the 1970's. their exact origin is vague. a patent was never applied for. some people presume they originated in france, others in italy or the u.s. two reasons explain their success -- they're light and they're stackable. >> the plastic chair is definitely a global object. whether it's an object of globalization is probably not seriously disputed. that alone isn't why it's so fascinating. still, it provides an excellent opportunity to collect pictures of plastic chairs from all over the world.