Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec's interest in organic forms already manifested itself in 2004 with the design of Algues for Vitra. This predilection—and the awareness of a technique developed in North America in the nineteenth century to train young trees to grow in the shape of chairs – inspired the designers to create a chair that looked as if it had resulted from natural growth. 

Neither the Bouroullecs nor Vitra anticipated the amount of research and experimentation that would be required to achieve the production of Vegetal, the new chair that fulfils their joint expectations. The goal was not just a design with a natural, organic appearance. Rather, the method of construction itself should offer a credible reinterpretation of organic structures by closely resembling the natural growth process.

 

It took four years of intensive collaboration to move from the initial ideas to the presentation of a finished chair made of batched-dyed polyamide. Flat, branch-like ribs are asymmetrically intertwined on three levels to form the seat shell of Vegetal, which is shaped as an irregular circle and supported by four legs that appear to sprout from the ground. In order to provide the required strength, lightness and comfort in a chair that aspires to look like natural vegetation, the development of Vegetal was a trial-and-error process involving countless prototypes and an intense exploration of injection moulding technology.

Vegetal will be available for delivery in early 2009.

 

The first presentation of Vegetal will take place at Designers' Saturday 2008. The installation comprises a large group of Vegetal chairs that are suspended in seeming weightlessness, slowly turning in every direction to reveal their details. This kinetic installation, which can be individually interpreted as a cloud or a tree-like entity, offers a playful, abstract introduction to Vegetal. Sofas placed around the installation will offer a serene setting to observe this visual ballet.

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