Jaime Hayón's debut plastic product is a skeletal chair for Magis
Milan 2015: Spanish designer Jaime Hayón has collaborated with Italian design brand Magis to create his first plastic chair.
Hayón worked with the material for the first time to create the Milà chair for Magis, which launched the design at the Salone del Mobile furniture fair earlier this month.
The designer's back catalogue is filled with products made from natural materials, but he branched out into plastic to create the looping forms of the chair's frame.
"It's a challenge for me, as someone who normally uses materials with thousands of years of heritage such as wood, metal, and ceramic, to create my first product in plastic," said Hayón.
He worked with Magis' gas-assisted injection-moulding technology, which involves inserting nitrogen at a controlled high pressure into the closed mould to form a cavity within the plastic structure.
This process uses the minimal amount of material to create a lightweight frame. The design comprises a curved backrest braced by thin supports and arms that join the legs below the connection with the seat.
"We were able to make an expressive chair very rich in movement, based on the forms of Catalan Modernism: elastic and dynamic," Hayón said. "We created a truly elegant plastic chair, something to stand out on a saturated market."
The chair is available in a range of colours with optional upholstered cushions on the seat and back.
Also at the Salone del Mobile, which concluded on 19 April, Hayón presented a range of wooden tables that are shaped to look like the curved structural elements of Le Corbusier buildings and a concrete cartoon monkey holding a tray.