Dezeen Magazine

Nissa Kinzhalina's Gentle Hint chairs resemble incomplete line drawings

Kazakh designer Nissa Kinzhalina has created a pair of chairs that look like unfinished sketches when viewed from the side.

Gentle Hint Chairs by Nissa Kinzhalina

The two Gentle Hint chairs – one high bar stool and one low dining chair – have a minimal framework composed of powder-coated metal rods joined together to give the appearance of a continuous strip.

This line appears to trace the shape of a chair in the air, joining at the bottom to form a square base but leaving the seat back open at the top.

Gentle Hint Chairs by Nissa Kinzhalina

"I grew up on Japanese architecture and always admired the clean spaces, empty rooms, where there was only one detail," Kinzhalina, who also runs studio NN Design Band, told Dezeen.

"But this detail has always been the most important. And in the design of these chairs I wanted to make them very simple at first glance, and deep enough on the second," she added.

Gentle Hint Chairs by Nissa Kinzhalina

The two pieces are almost identical in form, except for the addition of a cross bar on the taller design.

Both chairs also feature a square black wooden seat, and once put into production will apparently be accompanied by a soft pillow for comfort.

Gentle Hint Chairs by Nissa Kinzhalina

"I always think about people. I try to influence the human minds through my design. I like when my thing creates a soulful resonance," said the designer, who used a similarly minimal framework for her Living Sketch and Living Light lamps.

Japanese studio Nendo recently unveiled sketch-like furniture, with a collection of tables made of single lines that perfectly fitted the contours of the Tokyo gallery they were exhibited in.

Gentle Hint Chairs by Nissa Kinzhalina
Nissa Kinzhalina's concept sketch

South Korean designer Jinil Park opted for a more chaotic approach, with a range of furniture that used intersecting wires to recreate the appearance of hastily-scribbled drawings.