Folding and bending seems to be a bit of a trend in furniture design. Designers bend and twist shapes like origami, to get highly original shapes that are also simple to produce. It also adds a certain tension between 2D and 3D that is very interesting and gives these pieces a sculptural quality. Some designs that caught my eye lately:
- The Straw chair by
Osko + Deichmann, made to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus. They took steel tubes but folded them with a kink instead of bending them, like the classic Breuer designs. Just like a straw bent too far.
- The Plopp stool by Oskar Zieta for
Hay. This one is first welded at the contours and then filled with fluid (!) under high pressure. The fluid gives the metal its shape. After that, the legs are bent to form a stool. (Though it's interesting, I actually doubt it's comfortable)
- The Vouwwow chair by Maartje Nuy and Joost van Noort. This one is made of recycled cardboard. It won the Mart Stam prize awarded by
Thonet for young talent.
- And last but not least a classic: the low chair aluminium by Maarten Van Severen for
aiki. So graceful and simple.
