Ronan & Erwan Bourellec Slow Chair and Ottoman

The Slow Chair, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's latest design for the Vitra Home Collection, is a successful new interpretation of the classic armchair utilising the most current technology.
This inviting lounge piece, which counts Eero Saarinen's famous Womb Chair as well as Hans J. Wegner's Flag Halyard Lounge Chair among its typological and aesthetic "ancestors", uses an extremely strong, precisely shaped knit which is stretched over the frame of the chair like a fitted stocking. The frame is merely comprised of tubular steel ring for the seat, a screwed-on bow-shaped extension that forms the contour of the arms, backrest and four cast aluminium legs. On the periphery of the fabric, where the textile membrane is connected to the frame, the densely knit edge casings completely conceal the enclosed steel tubing.

Joel is a contributor on Design-Milk's weekly architectural posts and Apartment Therapy's Unplggd daily technology posts.