At its core, furniture serves a practical function but when designers are able to incorporate a playful aspect to it, it becomes that much more enjoyable to use. At this year’s WantedDesign show, furniture designer Louis Lim of Makingworks in collaboration with 3form debuted Mobius, an interactive bench that’s part furniture, part lighting experience that gets activated by touch.
Louis was the artist in residence for five weeks at 3form’s headquarters in Salt Lake City where he had the opportunity to access 3form’s special machines to create Mobius. The circular bench is made with a new material by 3form called Dark Chroma and is connected to a series of motion sensors that are sensitive to touch, pressure, and location. Light ripples throughout the bench like a stone dropped into a fluorescent pool depending on where you tap it and how hard you do it. When undisturbed, Mobius rests as a black, sculptural piece of art.
