Dezeen Magazine

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

In this movie filmed at Clerkenwell Design Week last month, BarberOsgerby's Jay Osgerby tells Dezeen that he wanted to design comfortable, understated sofas rather than statement pieces for their new collection for American furniture brand Knoll.

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

"The way that we started the project was to think about what we would really, really want in our home," says Osgerby, one half of London studio BarberOsgerby, who was recently awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for the design of the London 2012 Olympic Torch.

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

"You don't want to live with something that is a huge statement. So we decided that we should try to make something that was super comfortable, something that sat back," he continues.

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

The furniture collection includes a range of different sizes, from an armchair to a three-seater sofa, which feature prominent cast aluminium legs that can be finished in red, white or black paint.

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

"We looked at developing a series of cushions as individual objects that seem to be held together by a detail," says Osgerby. "The foot detail is like a clip holding the pieces together. Because the sofa is really understated - it's quite quiet - we felt [the foot detail] should be something recognisably BarberOsgerby."

"We designed a sofa that we would want in our own home"

See all our stories from Clerkenwell Design Week 2013 »
Watch our interview with BarberOsgerby about the Olympic Torch »

The music featured in this movie is a track called Octave by Junior Size, released by French record label Atelier du Sample . You can listen to more Junior Size tracks on Dezeen Music Project.