Finnish brand Artek has just unveiled two new designs by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec at the Stockholm furniture and lighting fair 2020. The brand has extended its range of furniture and accessories with rope — a chair that encourages creativity in posture — and the tupla wall hook. Both additions follow Artek's determination to link art and technology, bringing together industrial production with an artistic sensibility.
Following walter, Gropius' new unity between art and technology, Artek's two new products by the Bouroullec brothers showcase both technical expertise and graceful artistry. More like a silhouette than a solid block, rope chair is a line drawing translated into three dimensions — a simple artistic gesture rendered in space. The chair synthesizes engineering and creative expression, a solid structure with flexible elements, and stiff tubes with pliable rope.
Made for marine use, the rope is at the heart of the chair's unexpected comfort. As a weight-bearing part of the construction, it allows the chair to adapt to those who use it. Where other chairs dictate a specific way of sitting, the rope chair invites creativity in posture, encouraging dynamic movement and changes in position. When the sitter stands up, the chair's frame shows the traces of the body it last supported. Available in black or light grey, the rope chair by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec features a steel tubing frame and a seat made of form-pressed beech plywood and ash veneer. Its most prominent feature – the rope – is made of black polyester or natural flax, depending on the color version.
