Stream of Light is a conceptual sofa by Olivia Lee and Alienor de Chambrier made from four seperate items of furniture wrapped and bound in silk, wool and horse hair.
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The sofa was built in response to a brief set by Vitra for the D&AD Student Awards 2008 competition.
Both Lee and de Chambrier graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design this month.
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"Our approach started with a re-examination of the sofa and it's being defined as a piece of upholstered furniture," explains Lee. "We took the idea of upholstery and started to play with other kinds of traditional craft techniques such as crochet and knit - exploring ways of making comfort part of structure as well.
"We also began collecting a huge array of unusual materials (including horse hair, uncarded wool and unwoven silk) which we felt would build on the uniqueness and eccentricity of the piece.
"It was quite an organic process with both Alienor and myself agreeing that it was almost as if we were having a dialogue with each other through our weaving."
Lee also designed the Limited Edition Design Dolls in our previous story.
Below is the brief set by Vitra:
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Design a sofa inspired by the new Vitra Edition collection that is unencumbered by commercial constraints and pushes the boundaries of innovative furniture design.
Key drives:
- Unique
- Conceptual
- Experimental
- Displaying craftsmanship
- Innovative in form or/and function
- Use of new or unusual materials
- Breaking the mould, defying convention
Target audience
Your design is aimed at collectors of art. Each Vitra Edition is strictly limited (usually to 12) and individually numbered and registered. As each piece in the range demands a high value in the market of anywhere between £8,000 and £130,000, your design should reflect this positioning.