In our post on Rui Alves's Bridge Chair prototype from IMM Cologne we noted that, although generally approving of the piece, it wasn't as instantly accessible as much of Rui's work. It took us a little bit of time to find our way into it. One possible reason is and was what we referred to as the "deliberately overproportioned upholstered seat and back rest", and the associated unfamiliar but not unappealing form language with its vague reminiscence of Finn Juhl or Hans J Wegner, yet clearly very much its own.
Similarly, and in retrospect, what initially irritated us about the new Thonet 808 lounge chair by Formstelle was almost certainly the three sets of "wings" and the exaggerated form they give the object.
However, judging by a couple of other projects we saw at IMM Cologne 2015, it looks as if Rui and Formstelle might be riding the Zeitgeist a lot better than us, and that we all may have to get used to the overproportioned aesthetic.
On the DDM – Danish Design Makers' stand Copenhagen based designer Jesper Junge presented his so-called Pocket Chair. Formed from birch veneer and featuring removable, and washable, Kvadrat felt covers, Pocket Chair combines a delicately curved and majestically overblown backrest with a more demure if unignorable seat to create a very elegant, formally coherent, object. And one where, in comparison to Rui’s Bridge Chair, we feel the chunky base is very appropriate.
Not far from Pocket Chair, physically or formally, is and was the Lenz lounge chair by design studio Bartmann Berlin in cooperation with Silvia Terhedebrügge & Hanne Willmann. Effortlessly combining a moulded ash plywood seat and back rest with a powder coated steel base and very refined cushions, Lenz references various design epochs while remaining very much its own self-confident object. And an object which we can well imagine in a number of settings: domestic, public and commercial.
In addition to their larger than life proportions, the Bridge Chair, Pocket Chair and Lenz lounge chair are united by a lovely "low rider" character - something which instantly appealed to us in context of the Night club lounge chair by Alain Berteau as featured in the exhibition MAD ABOUT LIVING – 24 Designers froBrussels.
And which also greatly appeals to us in context of the Bridge Chair, Pocket Chair and Lenz lounge chair.
