Hasta La Ideas

Stockholm 2014: Swedish designer Gunilla Allard’s Cajal sofas and armchairs feature slender tubular steel frames that support chunky upholstered seats (+ slideshow).

Allard designed the collection for Swedish furniture brand Lammhults, and said the line of steel that forms the frame was influenced by a cosmetic called kajal (or kohl) which is often used as an eyeliner.

“My process began with the small sofa,” said Allard. “A petite sofa with a visible tube frame that wraps around the back like the stroke of a pen, or why not a kajal pencil?”

Lammhults asked Allard to design a collection that was “slender, contemporary and restful”, and particularly suited to use in offices, restaurants or waiting rooms.

The resulting pieces are developed around the minimal steel frame, which follows the shape of the armrests and back and can be specified in colours that complement or contrast with the upholstery.

Its slim profile provides a visually lightweight base for the seat, which seems to balance on slanting rods that connect the back legs to a bar running along the front of the frame.

The shell of the seat is made from glass-fibre reinforced polyurethane covered in foam that can be upholstered in fabric or leather.

The range comprises an easy chair and a sofa in large and small variations. The armchair and large sofa feature a deeper seat cushion than the less imposing small sofa.

Lammhults launched the Cajal collection at the Stockholm Furniture Fair earlier this month.

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balance seats on thin metal frames appeared first on Dezeen.

The wooden base of this sofa by Swedish firm Note Design Studio extends outwards to become a side table.

The low table was formed by continuing the ash wood platform out from one end of the sofa, which is part of Note‘s Rise collection designed for Swedish furniture brand Fogia.

“The integrated side table becomes a bridge between the piece of furniture and the rest of the room,” said the designers. “A surface for a still life, a favourite book, plants or whatever you choose to have close at hand.”

Rounded soft cushions covered in quilted upholstery sit on top of the base. The collection is named Rise because the seat backs are shaped to resemble the sun coming up over the horizon.

Note created the range for use in both domestic and commercial settings. The high back is designed to shield the sitters from an open-plan office space that could be situated behind.

“It’s a sofa with is own expression,” Note’s Cristiano Pigazzini told Dezeen. “We got inspired by the shape of the rising sun to create a piece of furniture that stand alone, a elegant centrepiece for both home and public spaces.”

The sofas are available with or without arms, and the range also includes a footstool with a matching base and fabric.

The series will be on show at the Stockholm Furniture and Lighting Fair and Note’s open exhibition at the Old Luma Factory during Stockholm Design Week, which starts on Monday.

Photographs are by Mathias Nero.

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Rise sofa by Note Design Studio appeared first on Dezeen.

Cologne 2014: German designer Christian Werner has created a sofa for French brand Ligne Roset with backrests that can be placed in any position (+ slideshow).

Werner designed the Prado sofa to allow users the freedom to configure the sofa to suit their mood or lifestyle.

Weighted cushions that act as movable backrests and additional bolster cushions can be arranged in any configuration on top of the large seat, or used to create informal seating areas on the floor.

From front-on the cushions have a standard oblong shape but sweep out at the back to form a stable base.

A metal insert in the base enhances the stability of the cushions, while a non-slip surface prevents them from moving once they’re in position.

The sofa’s deep seat is raised on a black lacquered steel base and is available in two lengths.

The smaller size comes with two back cushions and two bolster cushions, and the larger with three back cushions and two bolsters.

Mattress ticking on the reverse side of the seat cushion means it can be flipped over to turn the sofa into an occasional bed, and an optional fitted sheet can also be specified.

Prado was exhibited by Ligne Roset at the imm cologne trade fair last week, along with a rounded sofa by Philippe Nigro and a combined coffee table and footstool by GamFratesi.

Here are some more details from Ligne Roset:

Concept

“I don’t stand if I can sit. I don’t sit if I can lie down.”
“Some people succeed in finding their dream, whilst others create it if they can’t find it.”

It is through these quotations by Henry Ford and Theodor Fontane respectively that Christian Werner brings us his Prado nomadic settee. A way of showing us that the search for freedom and wellbeing has completely guided the design of this model. Quite apart from the habitual style exercise which surrounds a new settee – which consists of a principally aesthetic proposal – Prado represents first and foremost an approach based on the study of lifestyles, or in short, the human being. Here, therefore, we find the same ambition as that which brought us Smala in the early part of the new century.

Prado consists of a vast seat (sizes: 100 x 200 cm and 120 x 240 cm) which may be used either independently or with other elements, on which back cushions may be scattered at will. There is total freedom since these cushions, which are weighted and equipped with an anti-slip system, will remain in place without needing to be leant against or attached to anything. They could therefore be arranged on the floor for a few leisurely moments around a low table, whilst the seat could do duty as an occasional bed simply by turning over its seat cushion, the reverse of which is covered with mattress ticking.

The Oda low and pedestal tables (designed to slide above the seat cushion thanks to their cantilevered tops) were designed as the perfect complements to this settee, making it possible to create corner compositions, for example, or to add occasional tables on which one can place one’s personal effects.

Nomadic settee, removable cushions, 2 sizes 100 X 200 and 120 X 240.

The medium settee comes with 2 back cushions and 2 bolsters. The large settee comes with 3 back cushions and 2 bolsters. Optional armrest cushion (sold either singly or in pairs). Structure, back cushions, bolsters and armrests may be ordered in the same covering material, or in various colours and/or covering materials.

Another important and particularly interesting feature of Prado is the possibility of transforming it into a comfortable bed-settee, for the reverse of the seat cushion is covered in mattress ticking: simply turn the cushion over and use the optional fitted sheet to create a comfortable sleep platform either 100 or 120 cm in width.

Technical description

Structure in panels of chipboard clad in foam 50 kg/m3 and 110 g/m2 quilting.
Seat cushion in polyurethane foam 36 kg/m3 and 110 g/m2 quilting.
Base in Epoxy matt black lacquered steel.
Back cushion in injected foam 60 kg/m3 moulded onto a metal insert, equipped with elastic webbing and with a compartmented goose feather-filled comfort layer (10 % down / 90 % feathers) with 110 g/m2 quilting.
Anti-slip system.

Lumbar cushion filled with new goose feathers (10 % down / 90 % feathers).
Optional armrest cushion in polyurethane foam 35 kg/m3 and 200 g/m2 quilting.
A white 100 % cotton fitted sheet is also available for each settee.

Range

Large settee W 240 D 120 H 87 seat height 40.5
Medium settee W 200 D 100 H 87 seat height 40.5
Optional cushion W 40 D 23 H 15

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by Christian Werner for Ligne Roset appeared first on Dezeen.

Furniture design graduate Leala Dymond has designed a sofa where elasticated yellow bungee cord holds cushions and other items in place.

The Bungy Sofa by Bucks New University graduate Leala Dymond features a grid of yellow cord that is tied in knots around the upholstery and fixed to the frame with a system of pegs.

This cord can be used to secure extra cushions, or to hold magazines, books and remote controls.

“This sofa was designed to be adjustable to everyone’s comfort,” says Dymond. “The yellow elasticated cord allows the user to rearrange the cushions to their personal taste, without them sliding out.”

The frame is designed in walnut but Dymond says it could easily be made from cheaper materials.

The Bungy Sofa was awarded the 100% Design Award at Part 2 of New Designers 2013 this month, alongside a range of dyslexic products by New Designer of the Year award winner Henry Franks.

Other 2013 graduate highlights this year include 3D-printed casts by Jake Evill and a series of robotic adornments for introverts by Lilian Hipolyte Mushi. See our coverage of graduate shows 2013 »

Dymond will exhibit the Bungy Sofa at 100% Design during the London Design Festival, where last year Dezeen filmed a talk series with designers and critics that included Li Edelkoort, Asif Khan, Tom Hulme and Sam Jacob. Watch the movies »

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Leala Dymond appeared first on Dezeen.

Product news: these sofas with exaggerated seams by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola are now in production with Italian furniture brand Moroso.

Thirteen modular pieces make up Urquiola‘s M.A.S.S.A.S., an acronym for Moroso Asymmetric Sofa System Adorably Stitched.

The solid forms are crossed with raised seams over the arms and backs, plus some modules have discrete pockets that sit on the outer sides of the arms.

Moroso originally debuted the prototypes in Milan last year and the production models were also displayed at ICFF 2013.

In Milan this year Patricia Urquiola presented a family of chairs influenced by the shape of a hood and a seat with a backrest wrapped in rush, both also for Moroso.

The latest sofas we’ve featured include chunky grey seating resembling jagged icebergs and a settee that breaks down into a bed, two armchairs and two footstools.

See more sofa design »
See more design by Patricia Urquiola »
See more products for Moroso »

More information from Moroso follows:

M.A.S.S.A.S., an acronym for Moroso Asymmetric Sofa System Adorably Stitched, is Patricia Urquiola’s delightful new modular sofa system that makes full use of this Italian company’s unique and highly skilled abilities as haute couture producers of soft seating. A compact and controlled shape is well-defined by cuts and lines that map out the asymmetric fabric placement. Visible, raised stitching runs around the perimeter to deconstruct the otherwise solid surface. While the structure is of polyurethane foam, its softness is the result of a bonded combination of fabric and polyester fiberfill.

There are 13 individual pieces, including chairs and sofas that can be formed into corner turning shapes in a range of sizes. Designed to go with this seating group are the Fishbone Tables. Both of these products, introduced in Milan 2012, are now in production.

Urquiola’s partnership with Moroso began in 1998 when she was asked to produce designs under her own name, making Moroso the first manufacturer to produce her work. Since then Urquiola has been working with Moroso, designing not only furniture but also her first US interior project- the New York City Moroso store. Over the years, Patrizia Moroso, creative director and Urquiola have become great friends, as evidenced by Ms. Moroso’s cherished new home in Udine, designed by Urquiola.

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for Moroso appeared first on Dezeen.