Friday, October 13, 2006
Unusual Ways You Can Sit On Trash
Today in our environmentally conscious society you can find a chair made out of almost every recyclable material there is: milk cartons, soda bottles, wine barrels, boat wood, used tires and so on, but most of these chairs feel and look ordinary. Now take a look at some of the more unique and unusual chairs I’ve introduced to you below. These are the type of chairs that standout in a room and scream, “Look what I’m made from!” What do you think? Are they inspiring? Would you buy a chair like this? Could you make one?

1. Milano Lounge Chair (LCM) - Mini Deluxe
This chair has inspired me to want to do more than just recycle. I actually want to ride a bike again. Don’t ask me to explain why, but when I look at this chair I just want to sit in it and go on a bike ride. The Milano Lounge Chair (LCM) - Mini Deluxe is unique, to say the least, and beautiful. Am I strange? I don’t thinks so. I simply appreciate art and the extraordinary creative mind behind this exotic chair.
What is so special about the chair? The design, the idea, and the parts used to make it. It doesn’t look like an ordinary chair at all. Instead, bright red bicycle rims make arms as well as provide additional lower support for the chair. Handle bars are flipped upside down and made into the chairs legs. In addition, a long silver horn accents the fact that this chair was once a happy bike. There is also a wide choice of fabrics or inner-tube upholstery to choose from to be placed on the chair. Don’t like the LCM, take a look at the rest of what Bike Furniture Design has to offer. For current prices and for availability send an email to the company.


2. Bath Chair
Next on my list is a chair that is not as exotic as the Milano Lounge Chair, but is still as creative. These aren’t the old fashioned safety chairs people buy so that they may safely sit in the bath or shower as they wash themselves. These Bath Chairs are actually made of bathtubs. Thanks to Trashformaciones, someone came up with an idea of reusing bathtubs by cutting them in half and transforming them into chairs. 4O of these chairs were decorated by artists and displayed as urban furniture in a park called Ribalta de Castellon in 2003.
I can’t find any of these chairs for sale, nor do I know if they are still displayed in the park, but I do know of a few parks where I live that would get a kick out of these chairs. I sure would like to know if the chairs are slippery to sit in.

3. Rag Chair
This Rag Chair is outrageously pricey. It isn’t very pretty and has a terrible name, but I must admit I am tempted to give it a try. Is it sturdy? Does it shape to your butt and back? Does it feel like your sitting on cotton? What type of clothing did Tejo Remy use to make this chair? Silk blouses? Blue Jeans? 100% cotton? Was it random picking? Can it be washed in the washing machine if something is spilled on the chair? Is this chair to be placed in a particular room like the living room or a bedroom? Is it suitable for children? Is it as comfortable as advertised? It looks like it, but I won’t believe it until I get the chance to sit on it. Considering the price of this creative chair I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to find out.

4. Rocky Chair
Want a rocking chair that makes you feel like you’re at the movies, but doesn’t require you to actually be at that expensive, germ breeding, crowd calling place? Search no more. I have found it. Guy Arzi has brought old cinema seats back to life and put them in motion. Now you can watch a movie in the comfort of a movie chair and rock to the theme songs. If you want a drink and popcorn, you can forget about using the arms of the chairs. There are no cup holders in these chairs, but a food tray or an end table should solve this problem, so sit back and relax. These brightly colored Rocky Chairs can go in your family room, but you may want to get more than one, because there is no squeezing two people into one chair.

5. Human Nest
If it looks like a nest, is framed by bamboo, covered in scrap material and is large enough for one person, what is it? The Human Nest is a chair you can rest in without having to worry about good posture or bad backs. It is the kind of chair that would look great in dorm rooms except most collage students couldn’t afford to buy it. It’s also the kind of chair that makes me think Emily Pilloton must be a fan of Big Bird. Don’t like the featured colors. Not a problem. This chair can be custom-produced in any color story.

6. Inkuku

Ever wonder what do with your with your plastic grocery bags? You don’t want to throw them away and fill up the landfills and you hate to use paper bags. Paper bags tear easy in the rain. They are aslo awkward to carry and if the items inside are too heavy the bag will tear. Plastic bags may not be environmentally friendly, but they sure make your busy life a lot more manageable. To feel less guilt, you save the bags as you’ve always been taught to save them and you reuse them as trash liners or whatever else a plastic bag is good for. Still, ones that are too dirty or have a small tear aren’t very useful and they go straight to the trash. So, they still end up in our landfills, just not as quickly. Let the guilt subside because Ryan Frank has come up with a permanent solution to solve the plastic grocery bag dilemma. What’s the solution? Inkuku and the African technique used to make it. Inkuku is a chair made entirely of plastic shopping bags. The bright red/orange chair was inspired by a South African chicken ornament also made of plastic using the same African technique.

So go ahead, place a chair like this in the center of a room and when ever anyone new comes to visit you, you will always have something to talk about. Why? Because you’re chair will be shouting, “ Look what I’m made of!” Friends and family members will pass by the chair for the first time, look at it for a moment and then say, “That’s a *&^%$! cool chair!” or “What the &^$$ is that?” Then they will ask you how comfortable it is, how much it cost you, and if is it okay if they sit on your chair. You will let them know it is okay and you will make hand motions that invite them to sit down. Then they will want to know who made it, are there any more available, and if so, how can they have one. A few of the creative ones will want to learn how to make a chair like this or do what they can to contribute to its existence.

What do you think? Would an ordinary chair spark this much interest?

 
posted by Ammie at 5:54 PM | Permalink |


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