WORDS Annemarie Meintjes
Minimalist metal furniture is getting its time in the sun and these trend-defying classics are as comfortable to sit in as they are beautiful to gaze upon.
1. Circo Furniture Series
German designer Sebastian Herkner found inspiration for his Circo furniture series in the traditional travelling circuses of Colombia. The handcrafted designs, which feature powder-coated steel tubular frames and colourful recycled plastic wicker, are produced by Colombian artisans in a small factory for Ames. As a result, all of the items in the collection reflect the spirit and traditional craftsmanship of Colombia.
2. Acapulco Chair
Named after the coastal town of Acapulco in Mexico, the hot destination for the jet set in the ’50s and ’60s, the Acapulco chair has a slightly pear-shaped tubular frame and brightly coloured vinyl cord body. First produced in the 1950s, it is an icon of Mexican design and has given rise to a plenitude of replicas.
3. Fermob Luxembourg Collection
The Luxembourg range of outdoor furniture, originally created in the workshops of the Paris parks department in 1923 for the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, has become a legend in its own right and is still manufactured for the city’s public gardens. The entire Fermob Luxembourg Collection range has the same distinctive lines and forms, combining the lightness and resistance of aluminium with the comfort of curved seat slats.
4. Buit Outdoor Furniture
Buit (that’s not a typo) is a new line of outdoor furniture in aluminium mesh designed by Mayice Studio for the family-owned Spanish design brand Gandia Blasco. The Madrid-based Mayice Studio, founded by architects Marta Alonso Yebra and Imanol Calderón Elósegui, works with local craftsmen and women to execute their designs.
5. The Palissade Hot Galvinised Bench
The Palissade Hot Galvinised bench, designed by the French brothers Rohan and Erwan Bouroullec for the Danish design company HAY, is made with standard tubes of steel – round for the frame and rectangular for the seat slats. The hot-dip galvanised steel range was developed to supplement their existing Palissade collection of outdoor furniture.
