Vegetal by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Furniture manufacturers Vitra have sent us these pictures showing prototyping of the Vegetal chair by designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Taking inspiration from plants and nature, the Vegetal chair features branch-like structures that form a slightly irregular seating shell, supported by four legs.

The chair, designed for use indoors and outdoors, is made from die-cast, fibre-reinforced polyamide and comes in six different colours.

Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec collaborated with Vitra over four years to develop the design.

Here’s more information from Vitra:

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In a development process that took four years, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec worked with Vitra to create a universal chair for indoors and outdoors whose contours seem borrowed from nature.

Vegetal features flat branch structures woven in three levels to form a round, slightly irregular seating shell. On the underside, the chair is stabilized by ribs that grow out of the supportive legs.

The original inspiration for the project came from historical gardens of the 20th century, where young trees grew into furniture-like structures through continual care and deliberate pruning.

The guiding question for the designers was how to construct a chair that would most closely approximate the idea of a grown chair.

In coming up with new structures and construction forms, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec researched the various cultural and historical aspects.

Vegetal should not only be seen in the context of the design and furnishing of historic gardens. It also corresponds to current trends towards the flexible use of weatherproof furniture in interiors, in the garden or on the terrace.

To realise the clear innovative concept the designers had in mind, it took intensive collaboration with Vitra.

Complex forms like these can only be achieved when the designer and manufacturer are dedicated to producing an exceptional solution without the pressure of time.

The result is a pioneering chair which is comfortable, stable and made from durable die-cast fibre-enforced polyamide.