How to enhance performance through the reimagining of traditional product typologies is a bit of an obsession for Layer's Benjamin Hubert.
Take his Clerkenwell Design Week showcase, for example. As well as his 3D printed 'GO' wheelchair, Layer transformed Clerkenwell London's reading room into a delightful lounge of colour and comfort with the 'Cradle' collection, designed for Moroso.
Originally unveiled at Milan's Salone del Mobile, the Clerkenwell showing brought the trio of designs together, using the high-back and low-back chairs to create comfortable seating pockets, with dynamic room dividers completing the scene.
'We have a passion for developing new materials to solve problems at Layer,' explains Hubert, 'and in combination with Moroso’s love of textiles, we have arrived at a new type of mesh construction that offers better comfort through less materials, delivering a rich new aesthetic.'
Using a three-dimensional stretch textile created in collaboration with an Austrian factory, the knitted material is at once high strength and low density; lending flexible support to sitters and visual vibrancy in one fell swoop. A metal backrest cradles the cushioned seat block, and of course all colours can be customised.
Aside from the strong visual statement, the chairs also make a seriously satisfying seating experience – the elegance of a conventional upholstered lounge chair with the unique comfort of a hammock, without the hassle of awkwardly climbing in and out.
The Clerkenwell showing brought the trio of designs together, using the high-back and low-back chairs to create comfortable seating pockets
Aside from the strong visual statement, the chairs also make a seriously satisfying seating experience
Dynamic room dividers completed the scene at Clerkenwell London
The collection is realised in a three-dimensional stretch textile created in collaboration with an Austrian factory
'With Moroso’s love of textiles, we have arrived at a new type of mesh construction that offers better comfort through less materials, delivering a rich new aesthetic,' explains Hubert
INFORMATION
Photography courtesy of Layer
-
Jaguar reveals its new graphic identity ahead of a long-awaited total brand rebootJaguar’s new ethos is Exuberant Modernism, encapsulated by a new visual language that draws on fine art, fashion and architecture
-
Olfactory Art Keller: the New York gallery exhibiting the smell of vintage perfume, blossoming lilacs and last night’s shameOlfactory Art Keller is a Manhattan-based gallery space dedicated to exhibiting scent as art. Founder Dr Andreas Keller speaks with Lara Johnson-Wheeler about the project, which doesn’t shy away from the ‘unpleasant’
-
Explore a barn conversion with a difference on the Isle of WightGianni Botsford Architects' barn conversion transforms two old farm buildings into an atmospheric residence and artistic retreat, The Old Byre
-
Garden chairs for outdoor dining by Allermuir and Benjamin HubertThis family of outdoor chairs inspired by the British countryside marks Benjamin Hubert’s garden furniture debut and features a stackable design in steel rod and wire in an array of playful colours
-
The architecture of Swedish forests inspires Front Design’s evolving collection for MorosoAfter years of research into the wilderness of Swedish forests, the design duo developed a collection with Moroso that replicates natural textures with furniture. Some of their designs have now been translated into practical seating for the home
-
Blanket solution: Tekla Fabrics collaborates with John PawsonThe new line of blankets is inspired by the architect’s Cotswolds home
-
Ace Hotel and Block Shop unveil capsule collection at Modernism Week -
Illustrated life: the first in our new series of deftly drafted dream homes -
Magic carpets: Wallpaper* meets Jan Kath -
Creative city: Clerkenwell Design Week 2015 takes over London
