In the history of modern design, the transformation of chairs is synchronized with the development of architectural technology. The evolution of chairs can even be seen as a mirror of history. As George Nelson pointed out in 1953: "Every truly original idea, every innovation in design, every application of new materials, and every invention of furniture technology can be most vividly expressed in a chair."

Left: George Nelson

Today we also bring you 15 novel chair shows to see how designers play with materials to create unexpected new effects.

NO1. Gradient glass

The Ombré Glass Chair is a tribute to Shiro Kurau (1934-1991). His iconic glass chair is one of the most influential furniture designs of the 20th century. The transparent glass seems to condense in the air. This groundbreaking design concept truly reflects the importance of materials and sets a precedent in the special use of glass materials.

Printing colored ink on the glass adds a bit of brilliant and blurred brilliance to the glass chair, while still retaining the unique transparency of glass.

The Glass Chair embodies a fascination with formlessness and transparency. Using an innovative method of bonding glass, six glass panels are combined together, eliminating the need for screws and all traces of structure. The chair appears to be formed in one piece, giving it an almost invisible presence.

NO2. Sponge filling

Daria Zinovatnaya, a girl born in the 1990s from Ukraine, won the German Red Dot Design Award in 2017 for her Cherokee series. The Cherokee series she designed is obviously different from the Nordic style that is popular in the world today.

The works are influenced by the "Memphis" movement led by Ettore Sottsass in the 1980s. The design is simple, but the clever combination of colors and materials makes people feel playful and creative.

NO3. White Oak

This chair is named Qvist by Danish designer Peter Qvist. As a home designer, he is also an architect who is good at combining advanced 3D modeling with skilled craftsmanship.

Made from 17 layers of birch veneer, the chair takes a new approach to traditional birch wood.

To give the wood a smooth and silky finish, each piece of white oak is hand-sanded with oil wax.

NO4. Mixed materials

This Lawless "alien" chair, designed by American designer Evan Fay, not only meets normal functions, but also brings a new experience. Of course, it is only a concept design at present. If you are not careful when using it in real life, you may lose your chrysanthemum .

This chair weaves long blue cushions on a welded steel rod frame to form a chair shape. The two materials not only form a strong contrast visually, but the orderly and balanced steel rods and the chaotic cushions also create a set of contradictory impacts, thus creating an opposing but complementary real space.

NO5. Polypropylene

We have learned a lot of origami skills since we were young, and this craft has also inspired two designers from the Netherlands. This foldable chair (Flux Chair) can be unfolded into an elegant and comfortable chair in just 4 seconds. It is like a large envelope when stored and does not take up space. The chair is made of very strong polypropylene, which is one of the lightest types of plastic. The total weight of this chair is only 4.3KG, but it can withstand a weight of less than 160KG.

The handle can not only be used to carry the chair like a file bag, but also can be hung on the wall for storage. It can also be carried out like a suitcase, especially suitable for various outdoor places such as picnics and barbecues.

NO6. Hanger Chair

Sometimes when you get to the office, you will quickly take off your coat and hang it on the back of the chair. Joey Zeledón is such a reluctant and somewhat "lazy" designer. He designed this hanger chair by inserting countless ordinary hangers into a seat with only a steel frame structure.

The clothes hanger not only fulfills its own role, but also serves as the chair back and seat. The designer has a lot of imagination in combining the clothes hanger and the chair so perfectly!

Not only that, it also solves the problem of hanger storage. When hanging a suit, you only need to pick up a hanger. It is both personalized and saves time and effort.

No.7. Bamboo

Among the traditional crafts, bamboo is one of the materials that is most integrated with life. An important characteristic of bamboo itself is its toughness. Bending it can produce strong elastic stress. Here, a guy from Taiwan designed a small bamboo stool.

From the appearance, this bamboo stool is no different from other stools. However, the structure of this bamboo stool is very clever, relying on its own tension and interlaced forces to bear the weight. Just like a trampoline, it can present different arcs according to the weight of each person, giving people a more comfortable experience.

This bamboo stool does not have a single iron nail on its entire body. It uses traditional bamboo mortise and tenon techniques and is fixed with bamboo nails.

8. Metal

This "AO" Chair is the work of a designer. I have seen the real thing in person when I visited an exhibition before. This is a chair that changes with use. The seat surface is flat at first, but during use, the ductile seat surface will be pressed down by the weight of the human body, fitting the buttocks and deforming to form a slightly concave arc.

A special cutting method similar to paper cutting is used to transform a 2D plane into a 3D convex surface. The hexagonal pattern gradually increases from the edge to the middle, thus obtaining a natural and formal chair seat.

9. Cloth

Created by French designer Clement Brazille, the Bertoia Loom chair is a reinterpretation of an iconic work by American designer Harry Bertoia, paying homage to the centenary of his birth.

Just like a loom, corduroy, velvet and other materials are used to give each chair a unique coat. Weaving also quickly showed its benefits. Once weaving was added, the original wire chair became very comfortable, soft and unique.

NO10. Bubble

Would you dare to sit on this chair that looks rough and has sharp edges? This Stone Foam Stool designed by Dutch designer Matthijs Kok looks like a natural big rock. "It hurts" is everyone's first reaction, but in fact, it is a pretty soft and cool guy.

Yes! It is soft! It is made of polyurethane foam, clay particles, and pigments. When you sit down nervously, you will be surprised to find that it is foam, as soft as a baby's butt.

NO11. Waste mattress

Ted Bed is a multifunctional cushion  designed by Volen Valentinov. Interestingly, this 850×2000 mm soft bed can be easily transformed into an armchair, lazy sofa, and backrest. The material is also very environmentally friendly, made of waste materials from mattress factories, and the waterproof material makes it suitable for indoor and outdoor use.

NO12. Acrylic

This is a chair called Exploded Chair, which can be called "exploded chair" in Chinese. It seems that it is intended to piss off the ex-boyfriend/girlfriend of Virgo. Designer Joyce Lin disassembled a wooden chair and put it into a transparent, hollow acrylic tube. The "remnants" of the chair in the acrylic tube are crooked, as if they were blown apart.

This is a deconstructed chair, which looks like a loosely structured scrap chair from a distance. In fact, the designer embedded a decomposed wooden chair in a transparent plastic box, giving people a sense of visual confusion.

NO13. Wood + resin

Hattern Design Studio has been focusing on the recycling of wood scraps and recently launched a stool called Zero Per Stool. After collecting wood waste, it is poured with resin and then cooled to harden. The designer also hopes to create a zero-waste furniture to call on everyone to pay attention to environmental protection.

After the resin solidifies, a hard mixture of wood and resin is obtained, which is then cut and polished to form the stool surface. In the end, each stool has a unique style.

NO14. Three-dimensional elastic fabric

Layer is an experience-driven industrial design agency founded by British designer Benjamin Hubert. They created a "cradle" series for Moroso. It combines a net-structured hammock with a traditional cushioned lounge chair. The series consists of a chair, a screen, and a table.

This series of products uses three-dimensional stretch fabric developed in cooperation with an Austrian textile factory. This mesh material has high elasticity and can provide flexible support based on the human body shape, which is extremely ergonomic.

NO15. Knitting wool

Did you often help your mother wind yarn when you were a child? Hanna Maring from Design Academy Eindhoven probably had the same childhood experience. This Big Rush chair has a new shape by winding yarn around a single metal frame. Not only is the shape unique, but it is also very practical. Sometimes combining simple ideas together can also produce different surprising effects.