Portable Fireplace Couch | Zaid Bin Talib

Mutant Aggregation Thesis. There seem to be so many ways to want to sit or lie down that no couch, chair or bench design could possibly accommodate them all, right? Well, this industrious and dedicated pair of designers and artists set out to prove that theory wrong with Sitscape, a custom seating solution that combines elements of rigorous scientific analysis with creative design synthesis. The sinuous shape of the “Portable Fireplace Couch” has been inspired by natural rock formations shaped by erosion: the application of subtractive processes that carve solid matter. The resulting formal language gives the piece increased ergonomic properties without compromising the design’s proportion; translating into a concept that allows for multiple seating layouts. The carved profile incorporates deep backrests and generous undercuts for unrivaled comfort. Using an almost architectural approach to this furniture design problem, the pair started by mapping out the various possible configurations for and needs of the users, balancing the results in a functional-but-stylized way in three dimensions. The result: a creative and complex form that is both artistic and usable, conforming to different basic sitting and laying positions but also unique in shape and form. Laying emphasis on modern aesthetics, it has basic premises as an object that tumbles to attain multiple orientations to blur the qualification plans and sections. It tumbles and changes orientation and can flip to many different stances. What is a building that can tumble freely without gravity or fixed orientations, this installation is a freestanding furniture that questions projection, inside/outside, rigidity/fluidity and size/scale. It's a flippable object, able to be tilted and set on any side, offering a place to sit in any orientation. Perfectly inhabiting the otherwise inexact and under-explored midspace between architecture and an outside fireplace or couch or grill. At first glance, the “Portable Fireplace Couch” left me flummoxed since no conventional label can be applied to it. A sculpture, a bench, or a UFO are only some of the images that popped up into my head. However further exploration makes it clear it is open to interpretation. It also illustrates how it can to pushing design boundaries that yield a more futuristic result. In fact, the sight of this thing looming all alone in a free landscape or garden park makes it seem more powerful than it really is, I'd suggest, as it appears, in many ways, to invalidate the boundaries around it. This variation allows Portable Fireplace Couch to reposition incessantly and becomes spatially and materially coextensive with the fireplace and couch itself. There are more illustrations showing the spatial object being flipped, as the following, truncated sequence demonstrates and the diagrams reveal the variety of facets the object requires. But it would also be interesting, given more time, to see many more spatial variations on the same basic idea, but also to explore the effect of different materials, finishes, and colors. You select the geometry, the interior, the upholstery—maybe even small, medium, or large—and soon enough your very own piece, ready for assembly. It’s the surprise factor combined with a design autonomy that makes this product so noteworthy. This foresight necessitates working towards the ‘No Furniture’ concept where perception and convergence usurp the humdrum rhythm of urban life.