Product news: this chair by San Francisco design studio Mike & Maaike wraps around the sitter to create a refuge in busy interiors.
Extended armrests create a continuous loop to reduce ambient noise and visual distractions in hotel lobbies, airports or residential environments, while still allowing users to look between them and the backrest.
Dutch designer Maaike Evers and American Mike Simonian say the idea was to create the feeling of a "room-within-a-room" by introducing elements that invoke walls and a ceiling.
The chair was designed for contract furniture brand Haworth Collection and launched today at the NeoCon trade fair in Chicago.
An open top version and ottoman are also part of the collection and are made from steel frames covered in moulded foam and upholstered in a natural wool fabric.
In Milan earlier this year, Italian brand Moroso launched a chair by Patricia Urquiola with a hood that partially wraps around the sitter, while British designer Freya Sewell's felt pods can be closed to create a completely secluded cocoon-like space.
Mike and Maaike previously designed a bookshelf with slots cuts specifically to house important tomes about power and society and a space divider made from a grid of overlapping batons.
Here's some more information from the designers:
Suitable for both public and private spaces, the Windowseat is designed as a comfortable refuge from the hustle and bustle of lobbies, airports or busy home environments. By taking architectural elements (walls and ceiling) and applying them to a chair, we are exploring the idea of sub-architectural space, creating a room-within-a-room complete with its own unique perspective.
As office spaces shift toward the open plan, it is important to have a place to escape, to think, to make a call, or relax. While sitting in the Windowseat, the ambient noise is actually muffled and a new visual perspective is created, making the chair a multisensory experience.