New designers 09: graduate designer Charlotte Kingsnorth presented a sofa inspired by obesity at New Designers in London earlier this month.
The bulging, pink velvet upholstery engulfs its timber frame and is wrapped in latex sheeting.
“At One is a sofa which has been devoured by its obese occupier,” says Kingsnorth. “It tells a story of a relationship between a person and their sofa and the evolution of their bond through time spent sitting together.”
She designed the seat while studying at Bucks New University in the UK and was awarded a yellow pencil in the D&AD Student Awards 2008 for an early model, produced in response to the brief to design a sofa for the Vitra Editions range.
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July 28th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
eueeuw yak
gross
July 28th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I really love the idea of subtraction to reveal this particular seat. Those ideas could be used in a less grotesque way and make something that does not look like meat rotting off of a skeleton
July 28th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
omg i love it. i know exactly where to put it and who should sit on it at my house!
July 28th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
design trick # 33 from the book of
“how to make design these days”
take a disease, disorder or anything human and apply it to furniture.
examples siamese twins , anorexia obesity…etc etc.
July 28th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
It looks like something died on a chair skeleton. It’s kind of surreal (i love surrealism, but it’s not something i would want in my house)
July 28th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
What a fantastic object. I wish I didn’t know what the inspiration was, though, I just think it’s an excellent deconstro approach to upholstery.
July 28th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
It worked… as here and eat a salad I actually felt a little ill when I first saw the image. Before I even read about the inspiration, the couch physically effected me.
July 28th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
“At One is a sofa which has been devoured by its obese occupier…”
Because we all know those obese people will eat anything and everything, even their own furniture. I’d like to think design was thoughtful enough (or at least novel enough) to avoid stereotyped exaggerations. If a designer’s going to purposefully wade into that crusted-over slurry pool of rubber chickens and comedians wearing hilarious suspenders, they should at least wade back out with something new and interesting.
The object works fine on its own. I really like it. But that design statement takes an attractive object and reduces it to little more than a thirteen year-old’s idea of a good joke.
July 28th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
awesome!!
July 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
LOL – I love it. Yes furniture for fat fucks. Lovely.
July 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
look.. it’s me on summer break
July 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
WOW!
July 28th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Looks like a cross between a recliner and a tardigrade.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
looks like an accident between a dead pig and a clothes horse
July 28th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
This is brilliant. How rare it is to see a chair that’s truly unique. Shocking and inviting at the same time. Nice execution of the concept. Look forward to more work Charlotte!
July 28th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
wouldn’t ever put it in my house. but I love it nonetheless.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:05 am
This looks like an ugly fat lady that fell asleep while taking a ’sun bath’ and then melted.
July 29th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Parece que uma vaca gigante largou um cagalhão numa cadeira.
Thumbs up!
July 29th, 2009 at 1:59 am
Looked pretty cool before finding out it represents fat melting into a chair.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:35 am
It’s little…grotesque, but unique!
July 29th, 2009 at 4:14 am
reminds me of a corpse. i think it suppose to be one one a nice frame. it still looks disgusting.
July 29th, 2009 at 7:08 am
i love it!!!!
July 29th, 2009 at 10:47 am
nice one!
reminds me of Tjep’s 2005 XXL chair, which I think tackels the problem of fatness even better, it can’t even support itself any longer.
http://www.tjep.com/things/xxlchair/index.html
July 29th, 2009 at 11:05 am
it is emissioning some kind of negative energy looking like ill man, but the design is ok…
July 29th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
ugly and disgusting..then well done.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
wooow
i like it
alien style
so live,,gross but i could imagine it in my livingroom
July 29th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
like in Saville’s paintings, this piece is about the beauty that can be exuded from bulging flesh, not a statement against obesity.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Such an interesting concept. I’d name it “The Couch Potato”.
July 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
The explanation from the designer seems quite silly and a bit post rationalisation-esque to me!! Why does it need to be justified? It is really cool in my opinion!!
July 29th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
It looks more like that well known giant baseball glove chair, but one that has been so well worn that it has eroded away…
July 29th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s interesting. I wonder if it’s comfortable
July 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
a wonderful and powerful visual and philosophical statement…………..
very thoughtful and moving!
it IS beautiful!
I love it!!
(the number and range of the comments above are a testament to it’s power)
July 30th, 2009 at 1:02 am
Nothing like Tjep!
July 30th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
From the movie 300, I spy a remarkable likeness…but I am not sure?
http://www.shaunsmithfx.com/images/gallery/300/large/fat-guy.jpg
July 30th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Looks like cancer !!!
July 30th, 2009 at 10:27 pm
never been a fan of Ross Lovegrove with his super slim things, but this ugly fat ….*
whatever it is, makes me become one instantly
*self censored by author
July 31st, 2009 at 3:39 am
soooo goood
i really want one
August 12th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Interesting as means of self-expression or even therapy. Can you imagine this mass-produced, though? In terms of execution, it would be a nightmare – material wastage, technical specifications… In terms of aesthetic, it would be a nightmare – imagine 3, 10 of those in a row…
The main feature of good furniture design is its ability to be reproduced or mass-produced without loosing its art aspect. Our design schools tend to fail in teaching that.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:57 am
so deprressing, but the design is ok some how. Hey Bekir Ademi are you from MK?