Dezeen Magazine

AL_A and Moroso join to produce chairs for V&A's Exhibition Road Quarter

AL_A designs furniture based on flooring patterns of its V&A extension

Amanda Levete's firm AL_A has teamed up with Moroso to create a set of laser-cut furniture for its V&A museum extension.

The 8mm chair and 6mm table were created to blend into the surroundings of the museum's new entrance and underground gallery, which opened earlier this year.

AL_A and Moroso join to produce chairs for V&A's Exhibition Road Quarter

The furniture is minimal in appearance, made from sheets of bent aluminium in two different thicknesses – which also give the chairs and tables their names.

The material, which is typically used for aeronautical projects, is super lightweight, also creating a more comfortable, springy back for the furniture.

AL_A and Moroso join to produce chairs for V&A's Exhibition Road Quarter

The pieces feature a slanting pattern made using laser-cutting that references the extension's porcelain floor, and created to cast striking shadows. The furniture is powder-coated in silver and white to match the colour of the tiles, and also a contrasting bright red.

AL_A worked with Moroso to ensure the furniture would be an "integral part" of the building, which adds an extra 6,400 square metres of space to the London museum, and is the largest expansion it's undergone in 100 years.

AL_A and Moroso join to produce chairs for V&A's Exhibition Road Quarter

A recent series of photos, taken by Simone Bossi, used restricted viewpoints to highlight the extension's architectural details such as staircases and skylights.

AL_A, which was founded by Stirling Prize-winning architect Amanda Levete in 2009, also completed an aluminium-plated tower block in Bangkok earlier this year, and the undulating tile-covered MAAT museum in Lisbon in 2016.

AL_A and Moroso join to produce chairs for V&A's Exhibition Road Quarter

It's not the first time Levete's firm has designed furniture for the London museum. It collaborated with design brand Established & Sons in 2012, alongside several other studios, to create a series of benches for the V&A courtyard.

Moroso, which was set up in 1952, has previously worked with a long list of leading designers, including Patricia UrquiolaRon Arad and Benjamin Hubert.

Levete took 77th place in the architects' section of Dezeen Hot List, a data-based power ranking of the most influential people in design and architecture.