Friday, November 25, 2022

FURNITURE EMERGING

25 NOV 2022 • PARTNER CONTENT

WHAT FURNITURE IS EMERGING FROM THE POST-PANDEMIC WORK REVOLUTION?

Pedrali tapped Jorge Pensi Design Studio to develop a task chair intuitive to a user’s hybrid-working needs. The result, Polar, is highly attuned to new office modalities.

During the pandemic, we undertook a global exploration of the ways to make work work in unprecedented circumstances. Homes became offices, dining tables became desks and stools often had to do in place of properly ergonomic chairs. And from that period emerged widespread hybrid working, a reality many still operate in today. Polar is part of the new generation of office furniture designed in response to this period.

‘Polar is a proposal for a chair that meets all the requirements to be in any workspace,’ explains designer Jorge Pensi. ‘But at the same time, we have endowed it with warm signs of identity that make it optimal for use at home as well.’ Its simple, intuitive mechanisms enable users to adjust the support, seat depth and tilting according to their ergonomic preferences. The dynamic, comfortable design – which sports minimalistic forms – is especially crafted to the human body.

ART DIRECTION: STUDIO FM | STYLING: STUDIO SALARIS

The collaboration between Pensi’s studio and Pedrali provides a fresh look at how workspaces can accommodate users sustainably. ‘If there is something that characterizes our work with Pedrali, it is that usually the themes that they propose us to design for are areas in which they have not intervened previously,’ says Pensi. ‘This has always been a big challenge. Examples include the Plural bench, the Ypsilon Connect acoustic panels, the Ypsilon tilting table and the Temps task chair. All of these products started actions aimed at the office – a new market for Pedrali.’

This shared commitment by designer and brand to experiment with context, use and production methods is what ultimately leads to innovative, timeless designs like Polar, thinks Pensi. ‘In my experience, the best products – those that last over time – are the result of an intense, thoughtful and warm relationship with the partner.’ What goes into building that relationship? ‘Intensive talks about the project – about what makes it different from what exists – and, of course, the optimization of manufacturing and cost.’