Winner: Design project of the year and collectible design of the year 2025. AtMa has designed J39.5, a series of chairs made up of reassembled parts of the broken vintage J39 chair, initially designed by Borge Mogensen.
"It all started when we came across a vintage J39 with a missing leg and a cracked backrest at a vintage furniture warehouse," said AtMa.
This project made use of some damaged vintage J39s that were initially difficult to repair because of cost, time and effort.
"We decided to take them back to create new value for them as well as a circular relationship with furniture based on three concepts: Circular Design, Circular Material and Circular Culture," added AtMa.
Judges comments: "This collection of one-off seats breathes new life into otherwise discarded and forgotten chairs. Each creation celebrates the 'scars' of their previous life. The results are timeless in their appeal. We found it satisfying that new value was created without using new materials and there is a pleasing warmth of craft in the final outcomes."
"This body of work conveys the handwriting of the maker and these low-fi creations celebrate the individual DIY path that the creator pursued. Each object in this body of work stretches expected seating typologies away from the original chair from which they are constructed. The collection represents an act of rebellion against the constant churn of newness in our industry; a sort of anti-design statement."
