My Favorite Red Dot 2008 Furniture Winners

The creativity level of designers continues to impress me. One furniture trend is sofa and chairs that adapt to the body and not the other way around.

I prefer the use of bands to the wire frame structure. But they are two interpretations of basically, the same trend.

I selected my favorite pieces from the crop of 2008 Red Dot Winners in the product design category to illustrate a few furniture trends.

Best of The Best

SKiN, designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel for Molteni & C, won the best of the best award. Within this avant-garde design, Jean Nouvel announces a new kind of comfort that is achieved through leaving things out.

Technologically, Skin is impressive too. The double leather cover is only supported by self-modeling geometric incisions. The leather feels soft to the touch. The floating seat makes this sofa surprisingly comfortable and brings a delicate touch. I would like to sit in one to fully appreciate the shape.

The Pumpkin Seating Furniture designed by legend Pierre Paulin for Roset follows the same concept but results in an opposite look. Pumpkin is a relaunch of a design originally part of the revolutionary redecoration of the Elysée Palace for Claude and Georges Pompidou in 1971. Pumpkin would sit perfectly in a family lounge.

From Ballet To Your Home

The laces of ballet shoes stirred the birth of Ribbon Stool series in the mind of its designer Nendo, a design group directed by Oki Sato. This amazing design is made possible due to laser cuts.

These high and low Ribbon stools are manufactured by Cappellini Spa with a polish lacquered finish in white, black, red, yellow and blue colors or in polish stainless steel.

Invite Your Buddy Home

The hourglass shaped table of Buddy is fun and chic. The leather-covered frame is matched with a steel top. In a pure European tradition, Molteni & C offered different finishes for the top and several leather colors for the frame.

The top opens to function as a small container. In fact, Buddy is fun, chic and practical. It characterizes the best friends of the fashionable crowd.

Stacking Chairs

When you host a party, having 5 or 6 chairs in reserve can make a big difference in the comfort level of your guests. Stackable chairs used to be the poor parent of furniture. With smaller condo living, it is time that thing turned around. 

Karim Rashid imagined a set of intersecting surfaces to form of the seat and the backrest of the Poly chair. The chair does not feel square-edged. The Italian brand Bonaldo manufactured Poly in transparent colors or shiny black and white. Shop around since the prices of the Bonaldo Poly chair since to vary a lot from one retailer to the next.

MORE READING:
+ Ribbon Stools by Nendo for Cappellini at Unica Home – price: $538 USD low, $846 high, $375 cushion
+ Black Poly Chair at Topdeq – price: $195
+ Entire Poly Chair series at Karim Rashid shop – price: $340 USD