Challenged Assises

When designers play with both the form and function of a chair, these subversive visuals invite us to recon- sider conventional perceptions of furniture. Five creatives explore the codes of seating, pointing to our relationship with—and fascination for—objects. Celebrating a design that is both evocative and provocative, they navigate the delicate balance between function and fantasy, teasing our expectations—from anthropomorphism to reuse. The series subtly questions what seems pre-established, allowing the unexpected to become a catalyst for creation.

ESTO — DISGUISE SERIES & WOOL CHAIR
Behind the theatrical and bristling creations of the Disguise Series is ESTO, the creative studio led from Madrid by Amalia Wakonigg and Guillermo Borreguero. Their work explores how subtle gestures—sometimes minimal, often intuitive—can generate pieces with a strong character. Infused with subtle humor and a certain indiscipline, these seats evoke processes of organic growth and alter our perception of the object. Starting from a clear and recognizable structure, each piece is put together to acquire a new presence. This gesture, almost ritualistic, grants the chair its own identity—inviting empathy rather than analysis. The latest addition to the series, the Wool Chair, embodies this transformation from structure to figure. Oscillating between fiction and function, it gently subverts the traditional codes of seating. Its slender, strange silhouette—made of steel and raw wool, carded and felted by hand—sits somewhere between vertebrae and ornament. The result is an experience that feels instinctive rather than demonstrative.

ILLYA GOLDMAN GUBIN — KARTON HOCKER (CARDBOARD STOOL)
Playing with perception and expectation, Illya Goldman Gubin seeks surprise as “a gentle cure for the conditioned mind”. In contrast to formal doctrines and traditional design, he develops a conceptual, raw, and deliberately imperfect style. Using a method bordering on performance, the designer creates this series of seating pieces. Initially deformed under the weight of his own body, the cardboard is shaped before being coated in resin to form Karton Hocker (Cardboard Stool). Both sculptural and ordinary—unique yet familiar—the stool originates from a simple object that recalls childhood memories. Its original function dissolves to create a new certainty of use: here the box is no longer something we carry but something that carries us. Like the classic tale of the biter bit, the container becomes the one that supports from the outside.

LILAS PATARD — OBJECTIFIED
In a world where bodies are often objectified, Lilas Patard chooses instead to humanize objects. Through pieces privileging expressive value over strict utility, the French designer aligns herself with an approach close to troll design—a way of escaping rigid functionality in favor of creative freedom. Working within a soft and tactile aesthetic, she draws inspiration from the world of fashion, both technically and visually. References include the knitwear experiments of Issey Miyake Homme Plissé A/W 24/25 and the performative work of Leigh Bowery. The result is seating with a strong physical presence. The armchair Objectified celebrates the carnal, drawing inspiration from Italian design of the 1970s. Far from conventional furniture, its welded steel frame combined with soft latex foam resembles a skeleton covered with flesh—creating the sensation of sitting on someone’s knees. With its organic volumes and tensioned knit structure—a two-tone textile knitted in eight sections—Objectified invites a more intimate relationship with the object.

FREDERICIA FURNITURE × LÆRKE RYOM — BUCKLE
Avec un style tactile et réfléchi, Lærke Ryom transpose savoir-faire traditionnels et détails familiers dans des designs inspirés du textile, créant une présence inattendue et vivante. Pour la Buckle, signée dans le cadre de « Cabinetmakers’ Autumn Exhibition 2025 », la designer conçoit un modèle transformable. C’est en puisant dans les archives de Fredericia Furniture qu’elle remarque un détail de boucle qui
inspirera le mobilier pliable, capable de passer de chaise à ottoman. Le profil de caractère naît du tombé du textile sur la sangle soutenant le dossier, et s’accompagne d’accoudoirs souples et singuliers déployés de part et d’autre. Avec un rembourrage et une structure volontairement lâches, apparaissant presque comme une provocation face au capitonnage tendu et parfaitement ajusté traditionnellement associé au bon artisanat, elle suscite une réflexion sur le « beau ». De réception passive à engagement conscient, elle crée une pause subtile, un moment où le corps prend conscience de sa relation à l’objet. •

Photos: Chair 01 — Off White, Disguise Series 00, ESTO • © ESTO • Karton Hocker (Cardboard Stool), Illya Goldman Gubin, 2021 • © Phillip Koll • Objectified, Lilas Patard, 2025 • © Lilas Patard • Buckle-Fastened Upholstery chair, Fredericia Furniture in collaboration with Lærke Ryom, 2025 • © Peter Vinther for Fredericia