Made by folding and gluing layers of industrial felt, Elephant Seating, designed by architect Ben Ryuki Miyagi uses the idea of folding to pay homage to traditional Japanese origami. The choice of material was inspired by works of the late-twentieth-century German artist Josef Beuys, who used felt in many of his conceptual objects and installations. The sofa was designed intentionally to expose its construction technique as the form. Here, the act of folding synthesizes the technological construction as well as the cultural construction of a sofa.
Elephant Seating is aptly named due to its resemblance to an elephant in terms of its color, texture, and ear-like elements that act as armrests.
Since the sofa is soft, it can be shipped without the risk of being damaged. No assembly is required by the user. The seat area is structurally stabilized by the vertical folding and layering of the felt sheets. The ear-like pieces hanging from the armrests provide lateral stability. They are folded out from the seating. There is a piece of a plywood embedded in each armrest to maintain the shape. This prototype was made by the architect himself in his studio. Because it involves nothing more than a dense layering of fabric, folded and glued in calculated ways, it does not require elaborate tools or specialised factory processes to manufacture. Each felt sheet needs to be cut to a precise shape, but the process of folding and gluing them can be done relatively easily and quickly in a space about the size of a bedroom.
images via ben ryuki miyagi
