The recent furniture fair in Milan has certainly made us appreciate how some of the simplest furniture pieces, like chairs, can be reinterpreted in any number of ways. Tokujin Yoshioka’s Bouquet chair, part of the Moroso collection at Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week, is an extraordinary example. With a thin, chrome metal tube supporting a simple egg shaped shell, Yoshioka has applied a bouquet of fabric squares to create an incredibly snug, and beautiful, chair. While our sustainable side is a little on the fence, we can’t help but be intrigued by this amazing design, which was easily one of the most talked about innovations in Milan this year.
The Bouquet chair is an evolution of the designer’s previous tissue installation held in the Moroso Showroom last year. In that installation, a wall was covered by over 30,000 sheets of tissue to create a softer and more engaging space. Yoshioka has applied the same intent to this chair. The fabric squares, or petals, allow the chair’s user to feel embraced, evoking a similar feeling to that of receiving a bouquet of flowers.
The petals of the chair are designed to return to their original form once a person stands up – just one of many details that make this creation such a great design. Yoshioka explains that “the new chair Bouquet uplifts the sitter as well as a flower bouquet does it to the receiver. The vibrant colors would evoke one’s remembrance.”
Remembrance, indeed. We certainly think that this design will be hard to forget.
+ Tokujin Yoshioka
+ MILAN DESIGN WEEK 2008
+ INHABITAT IN MILAN on Flickr
