Artek presents Rope Chair and Tupla Wall Hook, two new projects designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec. The French brothers – who also created Artek’s Kaari collection – are known as much for their technical expertise as for their graceful artistry, both of which are on display in their latest designs. Surprising silhouettes meet sophisticated constructions in a synthesis of art and technology as fresh today as it was when Artek was founded.
More like a silhouette than a solid block, the Rope Chair is a line drawing translated into three dimensions, a simple artistic gesture rendered in space. Designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, the chair is a synthesis of contrasts: sophisticated engineering and creative expression, solid structure and flexible elements, stiff tubes and pliable rope.
Made for marine use, the rope is at the heart of the chair’s unexpected comfort; 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 rises, the chair’s frame bears the traces of the body it last supported, the imprint of a user who co-defines its shape.
Available in black or light grey, Rope Chair has 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 colour version.
