Danish design studio Foersom & Hiort-Lorenzen has teamed up with furniture brand Norman Copenhagen to introduce a collection of plant-based chairs called the Mat Chair. There are two chairs with shells made from different materials.
One is made from hemp, a type of cannabis, while the other is from a combination of hemp and eelgrass, which is a marine plant similar to seaweed. The shell sits on powder-coated steel legs. Discarded hemp stems from farms are used instead of the leaves while eelgrass that gets washed up on the Danish shores is collected and dried for use.
Production involves turning the plants into a sheet material by mixing it with a “bico binder” to make it recyclable. Then it passes under a compression machine before it’s cut into shape. The material is then hand-sanded to make it smooth and then finished in a VOC- free linseed oil.
To differentiate one from the other, the hemp Mat Chair features a warm, light tone while the eelgrass comes in a muted brown hue. This furniture piece is the product of years of research and development. The materials used “constitute the very essence of the design” which not only provide a more responsible product, “they also play a key role in the aesthetic of the design, highlighting the natural beauty and tactility of the materials.”
According to Norman Copenhagen, “with circularity and responsibility at its core, the Mat collection is designed for disassembly and recycling, ensuring that the components of the Mat Chair can be recycled into new productions for a fully circular life cycle.”
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Images courtesy of Norman Copenhagen
