Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2012: New York and Amsterdam designer Karim Rashid presented this sofa with modular arms and headrests slotted into a high back at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile this month.

Called Float, the design for Spanish brand Sancal comes with three different backs and can be upholstered in one colour or a combination of fabrics from the collection called Cairo that Rashid designed especially for Sancal.

If you like this, you might be interested in Doshi Levien’s sofa from 2008 called My Beautiful Backside.

See all our stories about Karim Rashid on Dezeen here and more sofas here.

The Salone Internazionale del Mobile took place from 17 to 22 April. See all our stories about Milan 2012 here, plus photos on Facebook and Pinterest.

Here’s some more information from Sancal:

Float

A sofa that is also a screen.

Hand in hand with Karim Rashid, we have managed to create a seat that respects our own universe when we cohabit in public spaces. As Virginia Woolf would say, a room of one’s own providing intimacy and freedom.

Float is a contemporary couch designed for multiple purposes. This slim floating seat with incorporated back wall provides complete privacy in open spaces, to rest back on, hang one’s scarf or coat on or simply wait in the secluded area given by its high back.

One of the main characteristics of Karim’s designs is their colourful combinations, which at first sight seem not possible. Sancal products, on the other hand, are less vibrant. Float offers the perfect balance, as we have granted greater relevance to the textures and reserved the touches of colour for smaller detail such as the headrest or cushions.

Each Float component (arms, seat, back and headrest) can be selected in a different fabric. There is also a single colour option, upholstered with the same fabric.

Float is available in 3 sizes: two sofas with a low back and one sofa with a high back. The latter offers different combinations: apart from the straight arms, you can choose an inclined arm to lie back on like a divan. Furthermore, two hangers can be attached to the high back as if as it were a wall.

As for the cushions and headrests, Karim has also designed a series of patterns named Cairo. The collection is inspired in Egypt, where he was born. With a strong contemporary approach, Karim unites tradition and personal memories, adding bright colours to pictures of organic geometry.