Paris-based mostly designer Arik Levy will present a seating assortment supported by split wooden legs in Milan up coming month .
Levy has employed Czech furnishings brand TON’s wood-bending technology to create a chair, a barstool, an armchair and a lounge chair.
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Each and every of the items in his Split collection function sections of wood that are divided in two and then bent in different directions – a new improvement for TON.
“All the items from this loved ones were born from just one particular idea, the notion of bending – not in the way it is typically used, but to give it a new shape,” stated Levy. “In this case, the wood is divided into two parts and every portion is bent in a diverse path.”
Levy’s chairs are split at the top of each and every leg. At the back, the outer half extends up to help the backrest even though the inner portion curves below the seat.
The front legs also aid to carry the seat in the exact same way, however their forward-facing verticals cease underneath the horizontal surface.
Levy also additional coloured gradients to the normal versions of his chairs, which turn into lighter towards the centre and are utilized by spraying a stain onto the furnishings pieces.
He chose a palette influenced by gradients identified in nature, this kind of as sunrise, sunset, leaves and the sea.
“I wondered about what I could give to a chair apart from its shape,” explained the designer. “Consequently I chose to highlight the gradient colour.”
To bend the sections of beech or ash, squared lengths are steamed in specific vats for many hours.
The softened wood is then placed into metal forms and a flange is attached, placing stress on the wood so it requires the shape of the mould although it cools.
Bent sections are dried and air-conditioned for a number of weeks, then completed with oil, stain or lacquer.
This method was designed in 1856 by Michael Thonet, who utilized it to create the No 14 chair – nevertheless a staple in cafes worldwide.
Three of Thonet’s factories in the Czech Republic nevertheless make furniture using related strategies today.
The facility at Bystřice pod Hostýnem became a national enterprise right after the second planet war and transformed its identify in 1994 to TON – an abbreviation of Továrna na Ohýbaný Nábytek (Factory of Bent Furniture).
The Split collection will be presented at this year’s Salone del Mobile furnishings honest in Milan, Hall 12 Stand C05, from 14 to 19 April.
Japanese studio Nendo also developed a assortment of furniture with elements that search like they are peeled away from wooden stems.
