Swedish designers Gustav Winsth and Alexander Lervik have unveiled a chair that was designed in virtual reality and brought to life by skilled metalworkers who normally work on motorcycles.
The Reality chair formed part of the Stockholm Furniture Fair exhibition Älvsjö Gård, a showcase of collectable and limited-edition furniture pieces.
Winsth and Lervik developed the design through a series of virtual design sessions. Instead of meeting in person, they would put on virtual reality (VR) goggles and come together via the digital platform Gravity Sketch.
The bulbous form of the Reality chair is crafted from aluminium
This led them to create a completely freeform design, featuring bulging volumes that are reminiscent of inflatables.
"Drawing in the VR world is like working with clay," Winsth told Dezeen. "It's such a great tool for creating these kinds of surfaces." Rather than allowing the design to be shaped by physical constraints, Lervik and Winsth waited until later in the process to think about how the chair might be manufactured.
It was made by specialists who typically shape motorcycle gas tanks
Keen to produce the design in metal, the only solution was to work with skilled sheet-metal specialists who typically use their skills to shape motorcycle gas tanks.
The bulbous shapes were created through a process of manual pressure turning.
Winsth sees the project as an example of how futuristic technology can create new possibilities for traditional ...