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A settee is designed for living ! With this in mind designer Erwan Bouroullec imagined Kobold as an island, a small fortress, a mini-world. For one, for the whole family, or between friends. A place to spend time, work, play, chat, sleep, keep one’s stuff, or all of the above, all at once. With two watchwords : super comfort and maximum functionality. He tells us all.
Interview by Léa Labbé
E.B. The starting point… is life, and observing it, in perpetual motion. We are living in a much more flexible, fluid way. Previously, each piece of furniture in a living room had a well-defined function: a storage item, a dining table, etc. These days, the various purposes overlap. This is particularly true of a settee. One might work there, take a bit of me time, sitting, slumping, stretched out, curled into a ball. You read there. You play there. You’re alone there, or in company. I have two small daughters and they always use this piece of furniture in ways which are unique to them. They are on it, in front of it, on the floor next to it; they put things on it and use it as a play mat. More than just a piece of furniture, a settee is a space, a comfortable little island which must offer the greatest possible freedom of use, bringing together a multiplicity of little functionalities, just like the interior of a boat cabin or car.
E.B. Designing a settee is quite a paradoxical exercise. For me, the main challenge is to liberate the body and make it possible to do what one wants, how one wants, intuitively. This is why, for example, the cushions are separated, with one large one. This enables the user to stretch out or sit, moving them around however they wish. I wanted them arranged to the side like this because there will be a need to access objects, put them down, store them, depending on what one is doing. A light will be needed for reading. Thus everything is at hand. So one is not only seeking freedom, but also efficiency. Thus there is also an element of interior architecture. Functionality enables one to transform a room, conferring a greater sensation of spaciousness. Hence Kobold’s slightly geometric form.
E.B. To my mind, there are three. Firstly, super comfort in terms of both position and usage: sitting, lying, slumping. It must support the body. And in terms of materials, there is Ligne Roset’s expertise in working with both fabrics and foam. I know many people who make furniture, but when it comes to comfort, Michel Roset is a true expert — a poet when it comes to fillings, with a deep understanding of body management. Having a bed readily available, without the bulk of a folding bed. Here, the sleep area is perfect. And finally, it is essential to think ahead to the maintenance and final disposal of a piece of furniture, considering each component, each material separately. We have done an enormous amount of work on this, not only in terms of facilitating recycling, but also cleaning. This is an important point for me, for if you can clean your settee you can do whatever you like with it, with no limitations.
I would say welcoming, flexible. And very compact. I would add that it is practically a living space! A living room condensed into a single piece of furniture. A micro architecture. A little fortress. Or an island...
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