How can seating help shape relations between people? This question was on the minds of Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien of London design studio Doshi Levien as they were creating 'Session', a collection of furniture for German manufacturer Brunner Group.
Comprising 23 elements that can be combined into several configurations, the designers conceived the collection as a series of components that can be separated, replaced and repaired, and the fabric easily removed.
Creating ‘Session’: Doshi Levien and Brunner
'In our design process, we wanted to bring together the softness and tactility of hospitality environments with the performance and flexibility required in the workplace,' explain the duo. 'The collection is designed to support different ways of sitting and spending time, from relaxed and informal use to more upright working and conversation.'
The collection is indeed informed by the new and changing needs of contemporary offices and other workspaces. Since its founding in 1977, family-owned Brunner has been a leading manufacturer in the genre, its products made in Germany with functionality in mind.
'One of Brunner’s particular strengths is their ability to marry the craft of upholstery and the shaping of soft form with highly engineered technical solutions,' explain the designers. 'Throughout the development, we have tried to balance softness with architectural coherence. This combination has been central to the development of “Session”.'
The collection is 'inspired by improvisation': the name itself brings to mind the casualness of a jam session, or an informal gathering. And this is the spirit of the designs, which include armchairs, sofas, curved elements, ottomans and daybeds that can be variously combined to help shape relationships and possibilities within a space.
Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien
'We were also interested in how the furniture could work at different scales: individual pieces work independently, while larger configurations begin to define areas within an open interior, creating different degrees of intimacy, enclosure and interaction,' they say.
Alongside smaller elements, a series of L-shaped designs further contribute to the interior architecture of an office space. They can be combined with integrated surfaces and swivelling writing tables to encourage connection, collaboration, but also relaxation.
'The L-shaped section also became a graphic element within the collection, creating a visual link between the softer components,' note Doshi and Levien. 'It gave us the opportunity to introduce a contrast of materials, bringing wood, leather and textile together within the same piece.'
