Cologne 2014: French designer Philippe Nigro has created a sofa for French furniture brand Ligne Roset with rounded edges like a bar of soap (+ slideshow).

Nigro's main aim with the design of the Cosse sofa for Ligne Roset was to optimise comfort, so he created a form with gentle contours that sweep around the sitter.

The designer described the shape of the sofa as: "Softly welcoming contours, a soft, delicate all-enveloping form which, sustained by a fine natural wood structure, floats above the ground."

The seat features a curved front edge that transitions into undulating armrests and connects to the high, rounded backrest. Webbed elastic suspension adds to the comfort of the cushion.

"Mastery of the constraints of series production, hand in hand with optimized technology and materials, work together to produce freely-flowing shapes such as that of the Cosse settee," Nigro added.

Simple wooden battens with a rectangular section are joined to create a minimal frame upon which the bulky body of the sofa rests.

A soldered steel framework supports the dense polyurethane foam shape, which can be upholstered in a choice of fabrics.

The base can be specified with a natural beech finish or a dark anthracite stain. Two sizes of sofa are available, with a matching footstool completing the family.

Cosse is being presented by Ligne Roset at its stand located in Hall 11.3 at trade fair imm cologne until Sunday.

Here's a project description from Ligne Roset:

Concept

Comfort is a sensation. As with all sensations any description will be subjective, but is it not an impression of lightness, such as when a body is liberated from its own weight in the water?

Comfort, therefore, was the inspiration for the Cosse settee, along with the expertise acquired by Cinna over time, such as their capacity to integrate the required technology with the optimization of materials in a way which preserves lightness, perhaps through the use of minimally thick materials and discreet framework which will fade into the background for the benefit of the simplest and lightest possible forms.

Mastery of the constraints of series production, hand in hand with optimized technology and materials, work together to produce freely-flowing shapes such as that of the Cosse settee.

Softly welcoming contours, a soft, delicate all-enveloping form which, sustained by a fine natural wood structure, floats above the ground.

The remarkable comfort of the seat, achieved thanks to its elastic-webbed suspension, contributes to this feeling of comfort and lightness.

One will also note those little details which, as always with Cinna, add to the sumptuousness of the model: the meanders of the armrest, for example, and the resulting difficulty of upholstering these, or the extreme slimness of the solid wood feet.

Technical description

Structure in mechanically-soldered steel; Pullmaflex suspension; polyurethane foam 36 kg/m3 - quilting 110 g/m2. Armrest in moulded foam 60 kg/m3 - quilting 110 g/m2.

Base in natural or anthracite-stained solid beech. Covered in Uniform, or in 2 special fabrics, one of which has been designed by Bertjan Pot (Dia).

Large settee W 215 D 99 H 82 seat height 38
Medium settee W 175 D 99 H 82 seat height 38
Footstool W 82 D 58 H 32