After his 3D rendering of a cloud-like armchair went viral on social media last year, Argentinian designer Andrés Reisinger has made the Hortensia chair a reality with the help of 20,000 fabric petals.
Reisinger, who works primarily with CGI, first posted the bulbous, light pink rendering on Instagram in July of 2018.
Since then, it has accumulated thousands of likes and been shared in design magazines alongside real furniture, prompting three orders for a non-existent chair.
The render was featured in design publications alongside real furniture
Now, after a year of research and development, the first real version of the Hortensia chair is on display at the Montoya gallery in Barcelona.
"I have been working with 3D softwares for more than 10 years now," Reisinger told Dezeen. "When I reached that goal in my digital work, I knew that my next challenge was to stop imagining and really start building the world as I see it." "I stumble on all sorts of problems and roadblocks when working with the physical world," he continued. "That's something that empowers my process, that asks for my attention and improvisation."
The first real version of the chair is now on display in Barcelona
The primary challenge when it came to this particular project was mimicking the hyper-tactile, almost fluffy exterior which is meant to evoke the hortensia or hydrangea flower that gives the chair its name.
It took Reisinger six months to find collaborators ...