hiroyuki morita at IMM cologne 2018 pure talents show

hiroyuki morita, founder of japanese design practice studio rope, presents two unusual and contrastingly crafted chairs for the ‘pure talent’ show at IMM cologne 2018. in a pure, natural form, the ‘temi’ chair reinterprets a traditional harvesting tool that was once used for sorting grain quality, until being replaced by machines. realizing how the new can revitalize the old, the traditional material and construction processes were simplified and adopted to make the furniture piece. the result positions the age-old tested body atop a modern, minimal structure.

the woven ‘temi’ chair
all images courtesy of studio rope

shown at IMM cologne 2018, the special ‘pure talents’ exhibition showcases offbeat, diverse projects within the field of interior design. fitting this well, hiroyuki morita‘s second chair, ‘cellastic’, is constructed from a much more modern manufacturing experiment. it is made from latex and nylon threads, with the latter controlling the elasticity of the former to hold and support the seated user. influenced by a cell sequence, the lounge chair’s body evokes an aesthetic reminiscent to these modular structures with a continuous wave pattern on its rear. as a test to challenge the elasticity and tensile stress of these materials, the project started initially to trial the novelty of designing a chair.

hiroyuki morita’s ‘cellastic’ lounge chair