Contemporary Design News
News of Contemporary Design, Architecture and Interiors
Vaarni has expanded Ronan Bouroullec’s Maasto range by releasing the 016 Maasto Dining Table in Finsh pine plywood during Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design 2024 festival. The 016 Maasto Dining Chair was released earlier in the year. The Maasto range is designed to be suitable for domestic and commercial settings. Vaarni manufactures its pine plywood locally, reviving Pine plywood production in Finland. Photo by Vaarni. Vaarni
London-based designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby have designed the Mikado upholstered chair for Vitra. The chair is upholstered on all sides and conceals a mechanism in its back that allows for a slight reclining movement of the backrest. Mikado is made with a high percentage of recycled materials, and individual components, including covers, can be repaired or replaced when necessary. At the end of the chair’s life, the components, including covers that are not glued or stapled, can be easily separated for recycling.
[Read more…] about Mikado chair by Barber & Osgerby for Vitra16-21 April 2024 | Triennale, MILAN
As part of Milan Design Week 2024, an exhibition by Jasper Morrison traces the 80-year history of Amercian furniture manufacturer Emeco and its iconic 1006 Navy Chair. Designed in 1944 for the US Navy, the 1006 Navy Chair was to be lightweight, non-corrosive, and fire-resistant. The chair was made from 80% salvaged aluminium and tested to last 150 years.
[Read more…] about Emeco to Emeco exhibition designed by Jasper Morrison, at Triennale MilanoThe Eames Plastic Chairs, designed by Charles and Ray Eames in 1950, utilised glass-fibre reinforced polyester resin after experimenting with plywood and sheet aluminium to create a seat tailored to the human body’s contours. It became the world’s first mass-produced plastic chair. Beginning in 2024, Vitra will manufacture the shell from recycled plastic sourced from Germany’s ‘Yellow Bag’ (Gelber Sack) collection program, and the chair will be fully recyclable at the end of its life.
[Read more…] about Vitra launches the Eames Plastic Chair RE made from recycled plasticGerman furniture manufacturer Tecta has created two variants of the D8P chairs, the D8P-1 swivel chair and the D8P-2 high-legged chair. The D8P was designed by German designer Martin Hirth in 2017, drawing inspiration from the Walter Gropius-designed F51 chair, with its characteristic cantilevered armrest. The new variants add a tubular steel swivel base to the original D8P chair design.
[Read more…] about Tecta D8P-1 and D8P-2 chairs by Martin HirthTokyo-based, Japanese designer Daisuke Yamamoto, utilised discarded Lightweight Gauge Steel (LGS), commonly used in construction framing systems, to create the FLOW furniture collection. The design prioritises deconstruction to avoid a ‘scrap and build’ construction process. Yamamoto advocates for a ‘fluid material lifecycle minimising industrial waste’ approach, seeking to shift from a conventional ‘think → build → waste’ model to a more sustainable ‘waste → think → recreate’ process. Photo of Enzo Mari Homage Chair by Masayuki Hayashi. © Daisuke Yamamoto Design Studio. Daisuke Yamamoto
Design studio Formway designs the lightweight, stackable Lightly chair for furniture company Noho, both based in Wellington, New Zealand. The high-strength polymer frame of the Lightly chair is made from castor beans, and the seat is made from recycled waste. The design allows for efficient stacking, with 10 chairs stacking one meter high. This, together with its low weight of 6 lbs (2.75kg), reduces the shipping carbon footprint. Noho
The EN collection of tables and chairs was designed by Danish designer Cecile Manz for the Japanese furniture company Maruni, which was founded in 1928. The original EN chair, with its curved backrest and loop frame legs, was launched with a soft-coloured fabric upholstery seat. An all-wood version with a solid wooden seat was released in 2023. The chairs are manufactured in a natural finish, rusty red, dusty green, clay white, and black. The round EN table is made of maple wood with colours applied to the legs. Maruni
Milan-based architects Massimiliano Locatelli have designed the Alpina outdoor chair as part of their Editions collection. The weatherproof Alpina chairs are a re-design of the 1960s bar chair. The chairs are constructed of double U-shaped tubular iron, with back and seat support made from over 120 meters of hand-woven mountaineering rope. Massimiliano Locatelli Editions
The ‘On and On’ collection of lightweight and extremely durable chairs and stools is the result of a collaboration between American furniture manufacturer Emeco and London-based designers Barber & Osgerby. The chairs and stools are manufactured from 70% rPET (waste plastic bottles), 10% non-toxic pigment, and 20% glass fibre for strength; furthermore Emeco aims to recycle used chairs to manufacture new ones. The chairs are suitable for interior and exterior use and can be stacked up to six chairs high. Photo by David Brook Shoot Studio. Emeco
The Loop Chair was designed in 1954 by Swiss designer Willy Guhl for Eternit. The shape of the chair was originally conceived in 1947 using clay impressions. The production chairs were made of mass produced Eternit fibre cement mats, which were moulded before they hardened. The design was revised by Guhl in 1997 and made of an asbestos-free fibre-reinforced cement (FRC), with a larger radii and two reinforcing corrugations to compensate for the weaker material. Photo of original 1954 Loop Chair. Swisspearl
The Lounge Chair 005 is designed by British furniture designer Max Lamb and manufactured by Finnish furniture company Vaarnii. Max Lamb designed the furniture combining off the shelf pieces of Finnish Pine to create a solid form, and then scooping out two convex recesses, revealing the grain of the timber. The chair is made by local craftsmen in factories in Finland. Photo Jussi Puikkonen. Vaarnii
The Carl Hansen PK1 Paper Cord chair is a variant of the lightweight and stackable PK1 chair, originally designed in brushed steel and wicker, by Danish architect Paul Kjærholm in 1951. The new version is made of steel and certified paper cord, taking a skilled craftsman 15 hours to weave 180 meters of paper cord onto the seat and back of each PK1 chair. Carl Hansen
Muller van Severen designed the Duo Seat for their solo exhibition Future Primitives at Interior Kortrijk in 2012. The Duo Seat consists of slim horizontal steel bars with cloth spanning between the bars, allowing large pieces of furniture to appear ‘invisible’. Shortly afterwards, Muller van Severen created the Solo Chair, which was a core version of the Duo Seat and also the Rocking Chair, both of which follow the same principle of visual lightness. Photo Siska Vandecasteele. Valerie Object, Muller van Severen
Belgian design studio Muller van Severen originally designed the Alu Chair for Anne Holtrop’s Bahrain pavilion for the World Expo 2015 in Milan. The chairs are part of a collection by Belgian design label Valerie Objects, and are made of a powder coated aluminium frame with coloured polyethylene applied to the back and seat. Valerie Objects, Muller van Severen
Architects Carolina Martinelli and Vittorio Venezia, in collaboration with Milan based Alessandro Stabile, designed the OTO chair for the Italian furniture brand One To One. Inspired by the circular economy, the OTO chair is manufactured using recycled plastic and a single mould which is a third of the size of traditional moulds. The chair is transported in a flat package and can be assembled using an interlocking system without screws or inserts. Martinelli Venezia. One To One
John Fauske designed the Knekk bar stool for Norwegian furniture company Fora Form in 2019. The Knekk range has now been expanded to include solid oak chairs, tables and benches. Fora Form
Norwegian furniture company Eikund relaunches the Torbjørn Afdal designed Hunter Chair. The chair, which was originally designed in 1960, forms part of Eikund’s Norwegian mid-century design classics collection. Eikund
The iconic Zig Zag chair was an early cantilevered solid wood chair designed by Dutch designer and architect Gerrit T. Reitveld in 1934. Cassina and One Block have issued a limited edition of the chair in wood and sheet metal. The metal is saturated in three colours linked to the De Stijl movement, namely red, yellow and blue. Cassina, One Block Down
The EVO-C chair by Jasper Morrison is made of 100% recyclable polypropylene and the use of a single material gives the chair a sculptural quality. Gas injection moulding technology allows the cantilevered chair to achieve the strength and rigidity of tubular metal chairs. Vitra, Jasper Morrison
Verner Panton, the influential 20th century Danish designer, seeing the potential of plastic, designed an all-plastic one piece chair in 1959. After searching for a manufacturer for many years the chair was manufactured by Vitra in 1967. Vitra
Hans J Wegner’s iconic Wishbone Chair has been in continuous production since 1950. Carl Hansen have now produced a limited edition CH24 Birthday Edition 2023 in oiled FSC TM oak and an exclusive double woven seat. Carl Hansen
Pierre Jeannette worked with Le Corbusier in the design of the Indian city of Chandigarh. The Committee Chair was designed by Pierre Jeannette for the Chandigarh project and is now manufactured by Cassina. Cassina
Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby were asked to furnish the Royal Society of Arts Academy in Tipton while Vitra was working with ETH Zurich on ‘dynamic sitting’. The ETH report concluded that a forward tilt sitting position had benefits including improved circulation. This led to a collaboration between Barber Osgerby and Vitra to create the Tip Ton Chair. Vitra subsequently released the Tip Ton RE which is manufactured from recycled plastic. Photo Marc Eggimann. ©Vitra. Barber Osgerby, Vitra