primal chair - 2022

GAŠPER FABIJAN, ANIMA RELINQUES CORPUS, SLOVENIA

"What happened this year is only the beginning of a very unfavorable story", says Prof. dr. Tom Levanič from the Forestry Institute of Slovenia about this year's forest fires. The consequences of global warming have never manifested themselves in Slovenia as directly as this summer. The fires destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and left behind only ashes. Unfortunately, this summer is not an exception and will be remembered for a long time. Experts warn that heat waves will become much more frequent every year. The chair can be made of different types of wood. The components of the "dead" chair are processed according to the traditional Japanese technique for the external protection of wood Yakisugi (Shou Sugi Ban), in which the wood is protected by burning. Burning makes the wood more resistant to fire, pests and decay. The other part that seemingly emerges from the deceased chair - the soul of the chair - remains natural in appearance. The entire chair is coated with natural oils. "Anima Relinquens Corpus", or in Slovenian "Soul leaves the body", is a chair that attempts to commemorate the apocalyptic scenes of burnt forests, while at the same time hinting that, despite everything, there is still hope for a better future. But is humanity ready and able to stop the unstoppable?

HAMZA BAVČIĆ, KERF-FOLDING STOOL CHAIR, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

KERF is a space-saving chair that can be placed on a hanger and stored like a garment in the closet. It's always ready to quickly set up to serve visiting friends and family. The purposes are to enrich the plywood, make it pliable and fold like paper origami. It is designed for practical people who live in small spaces. The name comes from the cutting technique; it is inspired by and optimized for the CNC milling process to save production time and cost.

ALDO DELI & PARIDE STELLA, EVELYN, ITALY

Evelyn is an armchair whose purpose is to redefine the way we perceive a sofa set. The wooden structure is in constant dialogue with the fabric, which, like in a hammock, is a suspended surface: this allows you to feel completely comfortable and surrounded. The almost complete absence of contact with hard parts gives a pleasant feeling of lightness.
The entire structure contains only five engineered or solid wood elements, machined with CNC milling and algorithmically optimized to ensure maximum structural stability and minimum material consumption. The backrest is traversed by a continuous cutout containing a guiding spiral of fabric, while the legs are attached with metal links.
The armchair shows a warm and modern look, while the interplay between the softness of the fabric and the slenderness of the structure provides a stimulating and interesting play of forces. Evelyn is designed to be fully disassembled in a compact package.