Here’s some music to our ears: an Eames Lounge Chair for $25! Ah, beautiful furniture for the masses, just how the modernist duo always wanted it. The only catch is that the chair is a 1:20 miniature, so you can’t really sit in it so much as it can sit on your desk. But the fact that it is 3D-printed and now available on Shapeways sort of makes up for it.

The lounge chair and ottoman set is just one of two Eames designs that Shapeways user KSpence has scripted for our enjoyment, the other being Charles and Ray’s LCW molded plywood chair. These scaled models of mid-century icons (which come in various sizes) bring attention to the Eames’s thoughtful manipulation of form and material. The fact that these collectibles are 3D-printed, however, offers a bit of a funny paradox: While the Eames were working precisely within the limits of malleable plywood and plastics back in the 20th century, today, rapid prototyping has seemingly freed us from these design limitations, yet we continue to revisit technically dated forms.

Clearly, this is not without reason. Many of the Eames’s designs have stood the test of time, making this miniature Eames Lounge Chair an “awesome source of inspiration or a great gift for a designer friend.” And it’s only a matter of time before regular-sized Eames chairs can be printed into existence, so hang tight.

Images courtesy KSpence.

more

Everyone loves window seats—but it’s safe to say that not everyone loves airports. Arriving hours beforehand just so you can be slowly corralled through a series of gates in which you are questioned, frisked, and asked to remove your shoes and discard your $3 bottled water? The ineffably boring duty-free shops, the limited dining options, the overpriced wifi? Not fun. But, particularly after suffering such indignities, nothing seems better than boarding the plane and settling down in that special place of your own, 34H, where you can finally block out the world and enjoy your ration of nuts and tomato juice.

Which is why we love the Windowseat Lounge, a new chair designed by Mike & Maaike that brings the intimacy and comfort of an airplane window seat to any public or private setting.

“[T]he Windowseat is designed as a comfortable refuge from the hustle and bustle of lobbies, airports or busy home environments,” say the designers in a product description. “By taking architectural elements (walls and ceiling) and applying them to a chair, we are exploring the idea of sub-architectural space.” In other words, with its “walls and ceiling,” Mike & Maaike’s Windowseat creates a partial sense of enclosure, offering a temporary sensory escape for the user. One can detect the design sensibilities of Eero Saarinen, the architect of the iconic TWA Flight Center, in the Windowseat’s diverse color scheme and streamlined form. See more photos after the jump!

more

Launched at Clerkenwell Design Week, Quiet & Call by TILT was developed as a result of a collaboration between the design studio and staff and patients at Whittington Hospital. A key insight from this process was the need for privacy in busy public spaces. Quiet & Call responds to this by creating a two-part, easily deployable set of enclosures: “Quiet” occupies the zone between booth and chair allowing occupants to rest in privacy, while “Call” creates a more temporary standing-up experience as a wall-mounted semi-enclosure.

Both parts of Quiet & Call are remarkable for the simplicity with which they tackle the issues at hand. Not only does this entry provide comfort for dull and overcrowded waiting rooms, but could be easily deployed in the office. The wood exterior and colorful interior would provide a welcome distraction from dreary public spaces. Call is pictured below.

more

In the age of the micro-unit (or the age of the idea of the micro-unit), multifunctional furniture is emerging as an essential trend in the future of urban living. As we scale back on square footage, we are  stowing away murphy beds, folding up tables and chairs, turning book shelves into bike racks, and so on and so forth. This space-saving mentality is the principle behind design firm TILT’s OpenBook chair, which provides the comforts of a library (or, perhaps more accurately, a charming bookstore/cafe) in a single piece of furniture. Read more after the jump.

more

We know you can’t get enough of Zaha Hadid, so let’s crack open another complex piece by the designer. Last month, among other Zaha designs revealed at Salone del Mobile, she unveiled this indigo-colored chair at the Sawaya & Moroni showroom in Milan. Like origami or the fortune cookie that comes with your (American) Chinese food, the chair is constructed from a single, circular plastic sheet, creased and folded at the right places for your seating needs. True to her style, Zaha brands this piece of furniture with scored bands that follow its curves and swirl around paisley cutouts. By the way, your fortune says, “You will read another Zaha story soon.” Click to see more pictures!

more

If Goldilocks ever taught us anything, it’s that the perfect chair is hard to find. Some are too rigid and hard and some are so soft it’s a wonder you can even pull yourself from the cushion. The awesome ID5 Interactive Systems faculty  and students at UdK Berlin created a piece called “1001″ that is a supportive seat and comfortable chaise lounge in one. Using the utmost in new CAD design and technology, this amazing seat bends and curls to each intuitive human movement, making it perfect for any form of enjoyment. Read more!

more

This year, we’ve profiled a number of chairs made with surprising materials, from solar panels and fluffy yarn to waste wood that resembles mold. Now comes this: Japanese studio Nendo has created a seat using fishing line! Conceived for the “Future Primitives” series at INTERIEUR 2012, the Fishing Line chair employs this unorthodox material to change the color of a natural wood chair. During the design process, standard fishing line is wrapped tightly around the each piece of furniture, tracing the shape of the chair and providing a “new luster and fine unevenness.” The chair was presented as a part of the main event at Biennale INTERIEUR 2012, where participating artists were tasked with designing a 60-square-meter “room that represents the interior space of the future.” Read more!

more

Did you know that there is typically 50% to 80% waste during traditional timber manufacturing? In response, designers Marjan van Aubel and Jamie Shaw have developed a new material made from the waste wood, a porous substance that looks like an ever-growing mold. (Now that’s an example of a cool Architecture+ Material award candidate.) Used in the creation of the Well Proven Chair, the substance covers the furniture’s shell like some sort of extraterrestrial growth. See more photos!

more

Images via Duffy London

The Shadow Chair by Duffy London defies gravity–or appears to rather, with frame that seems to be supported by just two front legs. In actuality, the chair is anchord to the floor by a piece of plate steel, which, at first glance, reads as a shadow looming beneath the seat. Read more.

more

For her senior thesis, RISD student Erica Sellers decided to explore soundwaves in a three-dimensional form. Entitled ‘From Digital to Design: Music and Soundwaves as the Basis for Customized Surface and Furniture Design”, Sellers’ project captured digital readings of soundwaves from various musical software before converting them into 3d representations in the form of common household furniture. Continue.

more