Prolific Japanese design studio nendo has unveiled Bouncy Layers, a new furniture collection for Chinese furniture companu KUKA, showcased at the ‘Home Living Boundless Design’ exhibition.
The collection focuses on the intrinsic value of softness, and the design team decide to take a different approach in expressing soft, comfortable furniture. To push the boundaries of comfort, rather than using standard padding materials such as urethane foam, cotton, plumage, springs or indeed cushions, nendo uses 1.5mm thick polycarbonate sheets, whose softness can be changed through lamination and how it is bent.
Depending on the amount of space between laminated layers softness can be altered; with decreased curvature comes increased stiffness.
“While what is considered soft for furniture is not essentially visible we attempted to and make it visually apparent, in doing so we hope to inspire a conscious perception of this in people’s minds and ‘intelligence'” explains Oki Sato, founder of the Japanese studio.
The collection will be exhibited until June 11 at Zhejiang Art Museum in China.
all images and video © Hiroshi Iwasaki