Interplay Café Seating
03.16.23
A Playful Invitation
Furniture
Brief
Hidden gems have become more and more prevalent since Covid, underscoring the importance of a third spot to unwind with friends. Cafés have been a perfect place for this type of relaxation. How can we design seating for a cafe that embodies a vision of human interaction, engagement, and playfulness?
Team
Industrial Design Kush Vakharia
Understanding
Destination cafés are a relatively recent trend, with their vibrant decor and unique drink combinations. While they may seem unassuming at first, their popularity, especially during a time of isolation, highlights the fundamental need for connection that all of us have. These destination cafés provide a place for people to reconnect with friends they haven't talked to in a while, vent their daily struggles with a close friend, or even meet new people. With this in mind, I set out to design seating that helps bring people together through playful interaction and aesthetics. It all started with understanding what the most comfortable position to sit for around 60-90 minutes is by trial and error with a seating cage.
Embodying
Playfulness is often found in the unexpected. For this design, I began by establishing a few central themes: in order to convey the informal nature of genuine connection, I decided to subvert expectations of a traditional chair through its aesthetic and interaction. Firstly, I went with an asymmetric design would break the expectations of a traditional chair at first glance. Upon closer examination, the user would notice that the entire chair is made of one continuous tube, as if it was doodled on a napkin. These two themes contribute to a design that is approachable and doesn't take itself too seriously. CMF needed to feel just as playful as the form, so I looked to playground aesthetics and borrowed the bright and vibrant colors.
The details
The Interplay Café Chair is a chair that invites users to take a seat and have a conversation. Its playful penstroke design married with vibrant color options makes it sure to enhance the energy in any room. Because it is asymmetrical, two mirrored Interplay seats can be placed directly next to eachother, allowing users to sit closer together to enable even more intimate interaction. A delightfully bright and simple plywood ties the brightly colored metal together, creating a sense of continuity that seamlessly reconciles form and material. A design that emphasizes open volume invites the user to make it whole, furthering the idea of connecting at the table.
