ronan and erwan bouroullec: furniture for hay at orgatec
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first image
table and chair designs by ronan and erwan bouroullec for hay - presented at orgatec 2012 in cologne
image © studio bouroullec
ronan and erwan bouroullec have conceived a collection of tables, chairs and benches in collaboration with danish furniture company hay,
presented at orgatec 2012 in cologne. set to open in january, the newly renovated faculty of humanities at københavns universitet
in copenhagen, denmark will be furnished with an entire suite of these designs by the brothers.
fabricated from oak and beech, the motivation for the series was an old wooden university trestle chair by architect berndt pedersen.
the interpretation features nesting, comfort and durability while maintaining the original typology of the trestle style.
designing to the mantra 'a strong sensual stackable wooden chair', the bouroullec duo split the form into two parts to
produce an aesthetic with a pronounced seam where the two shells meet. under the seat along this defined join the four legs attach to create an
A-frame leg structure, allowing infinite neat stacking where most other chairs pile forward.
the seat and back are mounted in the centre creating a highly flexible build which follows the movement of the user -
bearing similarity to cantilever varieties from the bauhaus school in germany in the 1930s. the table tops are also positioned in the middle of
the framework to allow for natural cable run as well as an aesthetic connection to the other pieces.
the brothers describe the impetus for the set:
'with this new collection it was our ambition to resume an old scandinavian tradition targeting specific architecture and specific needs
in designing new furniture... in our proposal for the new range of educational furniture, we have attempted to create furniture which in form
and identity has a clear dating in our age and which in a compelling manner uncovers the functional needs of a university in 2012.'
update 23.01.2013
the furniture collection for hay has been exhibited at maison et objet 2013.
update 28.01.2013
the collection will also be shown at stockholm furniture fair from the 5th of february through to the 9th, 2013
the pieces will be used for the newly remodelled faculty of humanities at københavns universitet in copenhagen, denmark
image © studio bouroullec
image © studio bouroullec
the form was split into two parts - producing an aesthetic with a pronounced seam
image © studio bouroullec
the chair designs bear similarity to cantilever varieties from the bauhaus school in germany in the 1930s
image © studio bouroullec
fabricated from oak and beech, the chairs feature nesting, comfort and durability
image © studio bouroullec
the A-frame leg structure allows for neat stacking
image © studio bouroullec
the motivation for the series was an old wooden university trestle chair
image © studio bouroullec
the seat and back are mounted in the centre creating a highly flexible form which follows the movement of the user
image © studio bouroullec
the bouroullec duo designed to the mantra 'a strong sensual stackable wooden chair'
image © studio bouroullec
'with this new collection it was our ambition to resume an old scandinavian tradition'
image © studio bouroullec
testing the strength of the chair
image © studio bouroullec
the stacking is vertical rather than piling forward
image © hay
nice dust niddle!
ergonomics my colleague, ergonomics! What’s the point of making a chair without it?
To specify my critic, with that kind of back rest, without lumbar support, you can only sit
uprightly and healthy by not using the back of the chair, because from my sitting and building my own chair experience I can say for sure that if you lean back on that rest you will slide down or the rest will cut your back…
Just my oppinion!
Fatigue/Failure Follows Form/Function and other “F” words
Please stop!! re-inventing the wheel…for the love of carpenters everywhere- don\’t we have enough of the \”sawhorse\” idea and variations thereof, Look though design history and see how many truly good ideas there have been. and then get inspired to do something fresh. Even the Bambi stool were cool- more of a concept that worked. Stop with the sawhorse..in the end, what is the difference between the 5 gajillion different sawhorse tables and chairs. Why not re-invent the toothpick? JHC!!!
These is awesome! Very simply and very beautiful, these forms seem an archetype of chair. I’d liked very much!
Luka seems to have it right. The Eames plywood chairs work because there’s “butt room” below the backrest; the shell chairs (and these, and too many others) don’t.
I’d be worried about the central connection (legs to spine) of the chairs and especially the tables. But they sure are pretty !
No sense in decrying the design of new chairs and tables — it’s like nature’s endless procreation, isn’t it ?
@luka: There is a university/shool environment intent for this series. And for that I appreciate it, and I think the ergonomics could work in that setting. @Pashmaniac: I also think it has novelty, please submit link of similar work.