'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec

in a development process that took four years, ronan & erwan bouroullec
worked with vitra to create a universal chair for indoors and outdoors whose
contours seem borrowed from nature. 'vegetal' features flat branch structures
woven in three levels to form a round, slightly irregular seating shell. on the
underside, the chair is stabilized by ribs that grow out of the supportive legs.


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec

the original idea for the project came from historical gardens of the 20th
century, where young trees grew into furniture-like structures through continual
care and deliberate pruning. the guiding question for the designers was how
to construct a chair that would most closely approximate the idea of a grown
chair.


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec

'vegetal' chair is  made from durable die-cast fibre- reinforced polyamide.


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image © designboom


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image © designboom


'vegetal chair' by ronan & erwan bouroullec
image © designboom


structure of the vegetal chair
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec


various structures of vegetal chair
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec


various structures of vegetal chair
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec

one of the important stages in the process consisted in transforming the branch
sections, circular at the outset, into a t-profile. this solution gives better structural
qualities whilst at the same time meeting the demands of injection fluidity.


vegetal chair
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec



ronan & erwan bouroullec with their vegetal chair design
image courtesy ronan & erwan bouroullec

currently on display at the grand hornu, brussels is 'etapes (stages)' a monographic
exhibition featuring the works of the bouroullec brothers. it features drawings
of their process that has not been revealed much until now. the show will run until
may 31, 2009.

http://www.grand-hornu.be


'etapes' exhibition
photo © michel de cubber
image courtesy grand hornu


'etapes' exhibition
photo © michel de cubber
image courtesy grand hornu