Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2013: wingback armchairs by Spanish designer Jaime Hayón for Danish brand Republic of Fritz Hansen were unveiled in Milan earlier this month (+ slideshow).

Ro, meaning “tranquility” in Danish, features a curved seat shell that swoops out on both sides to form armrests and dips inward at the neck to follow the shape of the user’s body.

Separate rounded cushions for the headrest, back and seat are covered in a slightly different texture to the shell they sit in.

Two small buttons at chest height provide small details on the otherwise uninterrupted surfaces.

The chair is supported on four smooth, rounded legs that can be chosen in different coloured woods or metals.

Nine different fabric colour options and a variety of materials including leather and velvet are available.

Jaime Hayón debuted the chairs at the Republic of Fritz Hansen showroom in Milan and also presented a series of outdoor furniture for BD Barcelona during the city’s design week.

Other chair launches from the event we’ve featured include Konstantin Grcic’s Parrish collection for Emeco and Stefan Diaz’s trio of chairs for e15.

See more designs by Jaime Hayón »
See all our coverage of Milan 2013 »
See more chairs on Dezeen »

Read on for more information from Republic of Fritz Hansen:

Ro – the new comfort zone

The world-renowned Spanish designer Jaime Hayon has worked together with Republic of Fritz Hansen to create today’s answer to tomorrow’s easy chair. A chair where you can find room for your inner space and take a break from the hectic bustle of everyday life. The chair is called Ro and will be launched at Salone del Mobile 2013 in Milan.

Time for reflection is a luxury in today’s world. We are all busy and always short of time to create a moment for quiet contemplation. The new easy chair springs from a desire to create a piece of furniture that offers an opportunity for reflection in our busy lives.

However, Ro is much more than an easy chair. It’s a 11⁄2-seater where you can relax, change positions and have your newspaper, computer or child next to you and create a new comfort zone.

The design of the shell is elegant and simple, pleasing to both the eye and the body and offers the promise of tranquility in both its visual expression and its comfortable functionality. Furthermore, the form of the shell gives you the choice of being part of what goes on in the room or relaxing in your own private space.

Fritz Hansen’s design brief to Jaime Hayon was “… to create a comfortable seat for one person”. “We put a great deal of effort into the form of the chair, which is inspired by the human body. We wanted a chair that was comfortable as well as beautiful. My goal was to create a slim and elegant chair that encourages reflection and comfort,” says Jaime Hayon.

“Ro” means tranquility in Danish. The name was chosen because it captures the point of the chair in just two letters, thus reflecting the Nordic approach and concept of beauty.

Ro is made with great craftsmanship and in the highest sustainable quality. Combined with the sculptural and elegant design, the result is a functional and aesthetic chair that fascinates its surroundings. One seems to fall in love with it. Ro does not compromise on either comfort or aesthetics.

The easy chair is available in nine colours: three traditional options (black, grey and taupe), three bright colours (violet, blue and yellow) and three soft colours (light pink, sage-green and sand). For a more vibrant look, the chair features two different textures: one for the seat shell and one for the cushions, which supports the contrasted expression of the hard shell and the warm and soft interior.

Ro is launched in the Republic of Fritz Hansen’s showroom in Milan during Salone Internazionale del Mobile in April 2013. The easy chair will be available from Republic of Fritz Hansen and authorized retailers from September 2013.

The post Ro armchair by Jaime Hayón
for Republic of Fritz Hansen appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2013: British designer Jasper Morrison has added a folding armchair to his Park Life collection of outdoor furniture for Spanish design brand Kettal.

Like the other pieces in the Park Life range, launched last year for Kettal, the armchair has an aluminium frame that is both lightweight and durable.

Jasper Morrison designed the chair with a cross-bracing hinge beneath the seat, which allows it to fold flat for easy storage.

The seat and backrest are made from porotex, a fabric made of PVC-coated polyester.

Morrison presented the new Park Life chair at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan last week alongside Village, another outdoor chair for Kettal. See more furniture by Kettal on Dezeen.

The designer also presented a chair inspired by camping furniture for Italian brand Mattiazzi. See more design by Jasper Morrison on Dezeen, including the iconic 1986 Side Table and the 2007 Crate Series.

See our pick of the best projects from the Salone »
See all our stories about design at Milan 2013 »

Here’s a bit of information from the brand:

Park Life is a complete family of furniture for outdoors, whose clean cut profile is adaptable to a wide range of different situations. Lightweight, yet extremely durable, it’s easily stacked for transport or winter storage and its technical sophistication and careful consideration of ergonomics besides a lot of care over how it looks are all intended to ensure a long life, both structurally and visually.

The post Park Life folding armchair by
Jasper Morrison for Kettal appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2013: German designer Stefan Diez unveiled a trio of chairs for German furniture brand e15 at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week.

Stefan Diez‘s This That Other collection for e15 comprises a dining chair called This, a low lounge chair called That and a high stool called Other.

The chairs combine a curved plywood shell with a solid frame and are available in a palette of colours assembled by designer Farah Ebrahimi: natural wood, neon pink, navy, white, light grey and dark grey.

Named after a card trick, the collection is a development of the processes used in Diez’s earlier Houdini chair for e15, launched in Milan in 2009 and updated in 2011 in an upholstered version.

Dezeen interviewed Diez as part of the Dezeentalks series at the immcologne trade fair in 2011, where he talked about working conditions, mittens for motorcycles and sex tourism – see all design by Stefan Diez.

Earlier this year e15 launched re-editions of furniture designed by German modernist Ferdinand Kramer in the first half of the twentieth century – see all design by e15.

Our round-up of highlights from the Salone included a lamp with a glass base by Industrial Facility and chairs with wavy backs by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola, while French architect Jean Nouvel presented a huge installation imagining office environments of the future – see all news and products from Milan this year.

Photographs are by Ingmar Kurth.

Here’s some more information from e15:

Named after the famous card trick, Stefan Diez applies the same plywood material as for the iconic Houdini seating series to craft the robust and versatile side chair This, lounge chair That and stool Other. The progressive and deceptively simple This That Other seating series by Munich based designer Stefan Diez illustrates e15’s key philosophy in exposing and featuring elements essential to the construction of a product. Simplifying the construction, this family represents a very economical offering for the contract market.

Providing ultimate comfort, the rounded shapes of the THIS THAT OTHER seating series give way to modern spirit and rational details in distinct quality. Forthright colours developed by Farah Ebrahimi signify the unique spirit of the seating series in a palette of neon pink, navy and shades of grey.

The post This That Other by Stefan Diez
for e15 appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2013: top-heavy chairs by Swedish studio Claesson Koivisto Rune are currently on show at Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile.

Inspired by the block colours and simple shapes found in the work of American minimalist artist Ellsworth Kelly, Claesson Koivisto Rune has upholstered the pair of padded Kelly chairs in vivid tones.

The rounded seat and back of the first chair appear to be formed from one section that is pinched at the place where they join.

A giant square back with rounded corners and a rectangular seat of the same width make up the larger chair.

Designed for Italian furniture brand Tacchini, both models have thin metal legs and bracing that look like they rest lightly against each other.

The legs of the bigger chair are stabilised with two crossed rods at the back, while the smaller seat has a single bar that spans beneath the seat to join the secondary struts on each side.

Tacchini is showing the furniture at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, stand C25 hall 16, until Sunday.

The Swedish designers are also presenting a kit-of-parts for a prefabricated Scandinavian house in Milan this week.

See more design by Claesson Koivisto Rune »
See all our coverage of Milan 2013 »
See our Milan 2013 map »

Claesson Koivisto Rune sent us the text below:

Kelly seating family

Inspiration does not follow straight lines. Only in hindsight does it appear logical. But one thing is true: Inspiration is inspirational.

One inspired artist is American Ellsworth Kelly. And that inspired us.

But it takes more to create inspired product design than an inspired Swedish designer. It takes two to play. This crazy, weird, childish, beautiful, wonderful play-doh-graphic universe is just the kind of inspiration that you can only develop into serious furniture together with an inspired manufacturer. And we’re so happy we’ve got Tacchini, the Italian friend willing to play.

It’s not art, it’s just design. But that’s what we do. With joy. Enjoy.

The post Kelly by Claesson Koivisto Rune
for Tacchini appeared first on Dezeen.

Milan 2013: British designers Industrial Facility will unveil these three-legged stools for Italian design brand Mattiazzi in Milan this week (+ movie).

Named Radice, the stools combine the front-half of a traditional four-legged stool with an unusual single leg in the middle of the back.

“Radice has some tension in its form and it is a slight surprise that the third leg works as well as it does to resolve the overall structure,” says Industrial Facility’s Sam Hecht. “It is in some ways structurally diagrammatic, yet is made comfortable visually and physically because of how this third leg supports the seat.”

A low backrest branches upwards from the back leg. Its t-bar shape provides a practical place to hang coats and handbags and is reflected in the bracing at the top and bottom of the legs.

The Radice stools have no visible fixings or screws and the seat appears to merely rest on the leg frame.

Manufactured by Mattiazzi, the stools will be available in red, yellow, black or natural wood, with additional cushion options. There is also a choice of two heights.

This is Industrial Facility’s second product for Mattiazzi: in 2010 they presented a chair called Branca, inspired by the growth of tree branches. See all our stories about design by Industrial Facility.

Mattiazzi will show the project at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile from 9 to 14 April, alongside chairs based on camping equipment by Jasper Morrison. See all our stories about Mattiazzi.

See all our stories about Milan 2013 »
See our Milan 2013 map »

The post Radice Stools by Industrial Facility
for Mattiazzi appeared first on Dezeen.