In May 2005, PLANT collaborated with two other design firms (Coggan+Crawford and TODA) to mount an exhibition at TODA in New York entitled un_seated. The aim of the show was to examine the nature of the chair and the process of exploration that takes place in the design of one. Each of the firms took a different approach to the problem, and produced a suite of chairs with different physical characteristics, but a common spirit. PLANT’s chairs explored the nature of rope as a material for structure and support.

Infinity and the catastrophic cut

Rope can occupy one of two states: the infinite or the definite – the (potentially) infinite length of rope as is manufactured, and the piece that is cut from it. Severing a piece of rope creates a discrete object from that infinite length, transforming it from something with no defined use (but limitless potential) into a defined and “useful” object.

These chairs explore those two states: the thick (wood) chair attempts to define a space through the rending of a heavy manila rope; the thin (steel) chair evokes the infinite state through the wrapping of its slender lines to form a cat’s cradle-like seat.