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The Habitare Fair in Helsinki included a special exhibit on EcoDesign curated by professor Yrjö Kukkapuro. More than 80 designers/studios were asked to participate by showcasing a form of sustainable seating. Though some of the chairs on display were already in production, many of the designers chose to create new experimental solutions and prototypes.
Some of the highlights included Terhi Tuominen's Fold, a stackable dining chair with slight geometric angles built into the seat and back. Kimmo Varjoranta displayed a simple wooden chair/stool set, while Portuguese designer Ana Mestre showcased her free-form Puf-Fup seat made from balls of cork. Finnish interior architect Simo Heikkilä made a basic armchair, while using recycled wood shavings as cushions. Hannu Kahonen of Creadesign decided not to use any new materials at all, opting instead to craft his chair from leftover produce crates.
Tupa by Simo Heikkilä
Puf-Fup by Ana Mestre
Orange Box by Hannu Kahonen
Pylkero by Kimmo Varjoranta
Fold by Terhi Tuominen
+ ecodesign.fi
I have to say I'm disappointed and incredulous... especially about the Tupa chair (the one with the shavings). Okay, so I understand the gimmick, but what is so obnoxiously un-sustainable about the design is the incredible waste of material used to build the rest of the structure of the chair. It's like using a slightly more efficient formula of gas in a Hummer. Silly! The most sustainable designs use a minimum of material to accomplish what is required... not glue together a whole tree's worth of chunky timbers.
While I do agree wit the excessive use of wood in the Tupa chair, the fact remains, that wood is sustainable. For those who don't know, trees are a renewable resource!