“Lawnge” Chairs Grass Seating
When one first glances at these “Lawnge Chairs” designed by artist Lisette Spee in collaboration with architect Tim Van Den Burg, something appears awry. While it’s clear their aim is to be less visually-intrusive than the average lawn chair, the large awkward height and eyesore-inducing wooden side profile veer the chairs drastically away from their intent. Then one realizes that the Lawnge Chairs, part of a series of chairs created for Valkenberg Park in Breda, Netherlands, don’t contain any natural elements at all and are essentially astroturf piled onto metal. At that point, they are merely giant obstructions ruining an otherwise perfectly-spacious open green. Art? Maybe. Eco-friendly–certainly not. Shortcomings aside, the chairs do give the appearance of being an extension of the grass from the front and also look to be quite thoughtfully contoured to the human physique. The Lawnge Chairs are a good start, but failure to incorporate actual grass, dirt and other natural materials seems to be a missed opportunity. [via Inhabitat]
Friday, July 17, 2009 9:01PM
The fundamental problem is the unconsidered second usage. The smooth front transition provides for a perfect jump ramp, the sort that would have BMX riders wetting their trousers over. If these things ever made it into the public domain, they'd be absolutely shredded within days. Oops.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 6:35AM
Has anyone involved in this ever actually SAT on grass? Stains, wet, ants, cuttings and all? It's a lovely picture on a sunny day when it hasn't rained recently, otherwise, it's lumpy landscaping. Don't sit on it.
Saturday, July 18, 2009 7:34PM
Hi,
Of course that real grass would be nice, but lets not forget that many people might avoid seating on them since they'd get their clothes green.
Besides it would probably be a source of bugs.
What they must have forgotten is a vibration system :-)
José