SHRINX easy chair - Boris Berlin Design, 2024
-realised with SHRINX 4903
"One of the biggest sins of the furniture industry is the massive use
of PU foam - a petrochemical product that requieres isocyanates as a
propellant during manufacturing. PU foam off-gases, loses properties
over time, is flammable, has a limited lifespan, cannot be recycled
without losing properties (can only be downcycled) and at best end up in
incineration and at worst in nature...
The SHRINX easy chair's special fabric SHRINX 4903 radically solves this problem and introduces (R)evolution in the upholstered furniture world by omitting PU foam completely." - Boris Berlin Design.
This project seeks to challenge the usual way of creating soft seating by completely omitting PU-foam and questioning the minimum of materials it takes to make a comfortable lounge chair.
Using patented inventive SHRINX textiles with self-supporting properties the challenge was to translate a well-known lounge chair archetype into a completely new foamless version, still holding a sharp and precise upholstery, an outer shape that arches from its inner frame in perfect curves and offers both the level of comfort and the soft feeling expected from this typology.
The semi-translucent textile reveals the foamless construction and emphasizes an attitude towards alternative ways of producing comfortable furniture.
One of the core objectives of this project was to explore the minimum materials necessary to create a comfortable lounge chair, without compromising on design or comfort. The SHRINX chair achieves this by employing patented textiles with self-supporting properties, replacing the need for foam. This material not only provides the structure needed for comfort but also retains a sleek and sharp upholstery, preserving the aesthetic of a classic lounge chair.
