There were so many great products at this year’s ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, in New York. Many were well designed, most had a green story and a few held surprises.
One piece in the third category was shown at Studio Antti E Oy. At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than an unusually styled, angular C-shaped chair with sides you can see through. After all, how many chairs have safety-glass sides to really enclose you?
In this case, however, the glass has another purpose. That’s because this chair, originally created by Finnish designer Antti Evavaara in 2002 but shown at the company’s debut at ICFF, is an audio environment that both blocks sound and adds music. Sit back into it and even the noise of a bustling trade-show floor fades into the background as melody envelopes your senses.
Listening to a few minutes of Gregorian chants as I sampled the Silence chair at ICFF, I could feel my shoulders relax and my mind reach for peaceful thoughts that were otherwise not in the forefront of my thinking as I dragged my tote and camera around the show. I asked the designer’s son so take my picture in this chair, which I never wanted to leave. See below.
If you would like to know more about ICFF, including the most important trends, read the June issue of The Trend Curve™, which will be available in just a couple of weeks. If you are not already a subscriber to The Trend Curve, joining our subscriber family is easy. Just go to www.trendcurve.com and click on the Trend Store link. You can also email Janice (Janice@trendcurve.info) or call her toll free: 800.531.6614.