British designer Jasper Morrison will debut a collection of deceptively simple-looking seating and tables for American furniture brand Emeco at Milan design week.
Called 1 Inch, the collection includes a chair, armchair and stools in three heights as well as cafe and bar tables. Each piece features a simple frame made from a recycled, one-inch-square extruded aluminium tube that was selected for its strength-to-weight ratio.

In keeping with Morrison's typically utilitarian style, the frames feature gently rounded edges and slightly splayed legs. Seats and backs are available in fabric or leather, sustainably sourced walnut or ash plywood, or one of seven colours of polypropylene.
Describing the chair as "probably one of the most complicated chairs I've designed", Morrison created the 1 Inch collection to suit a range of different environments.
"I'm more and more interested in working towards designs which take part in everyday life as naturally as possible," explained Morrison. "The 1 Inch chair, though far from spectacular, is intended to be an updated Emeco solution to a wide variety of situations where something strong and less flashy is required."
"The design of the chair seemed basic enough and we were not expecting much trouble in developing it, but we underestimated the complication of bending square aluminium tube in more than one plane simultaneously," he continued.
"It took Emeco several months of experimentation an...