15 Furniture Pieces Designed by Famous Architects

Designing buildings is something architects may consider to be easier than furniture design. The desire to design everyday objects in a highly personalized and unique manner is a challenge some of the world’s renowned architects have decided to take on. Furniture Design produces many forms of aesthetic; some are playfully inspired by nature, while others are smartly typical.

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Taking a peek at the structure, form, aesthetics, as well as performance, we’ve selected some of our favorites designs so far.

Furniture Design by Famous Architects:

1. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – Barcelona Chair

Creating a piece of furniture for royalty at the time when many others were thinking of designing things for the “common man” was something only Ludwig Mies van der Rohe could do. The idea of the chair was taken from the Roman aristocrat’s chairs called the Curule Chair, and it requires much more hand craftsmanship than normal chairs.

Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe

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2. Frank Gehry – Rocking Chaise

Frank Gehry always had a keen interest in industrial materials such as plywood and corrugated metal,  which can be seen in his early projects like the Wiggle Chair, but he was always fascinated by the idea of the rocking chair, which he designed accordingly to his own style.

Frank Gehry – “Rocking Chaise”

3. Eero Aarnio – Ball Chair

The Ball Chair more commonly known as the globe chair due to its shape and famous for its unconventional shape was designed in 1963. The idea came from a random drawing of the architect for designing a big chair that would not only serve as a showpiece but at the same time be used physically.

Eero Aarnio Ball Chair

4. Rem Koolhaas – Edge of the Seat

Being tall has a lot of benefits, but at the end of the day, everyone needs to have a comfortable chair to sit on, which is why the 6 foot 3″ architect designed the adjustable chair and table. Due to his height, the chairs were always a problem that made him sit down and think about the idea of designing a chair and table which can be allowed to move up according to the requirements of the user.

Furniture from OMA and Rem Koolhaas’s collection for Knoll

5. Rem Koolhaas – Paradigm Shift

The idea of using three horizontal shelves on top of each other which can then be rearranged according to the requirements of the user was something Rem Koolhaas was thinking about for a long time. The concept of making the shelves act as a sofa was practical, as he only focused on the performance of the product rather than the aesthetics.

Courtesy of OMA

6. Zaha Hadid – “Mesa” Glass Table

The connection of void and solid, when the void is defining the structure as much as the solid, is something that evolved from an architectural experiment. The design created two horizontal planes which depict the form and surface as much as structure and ground. The voids don’t only act as holes but rather they define their own surface.

© Eduardo Perez

7. Emmanuelle Moureaux – Rainbow Storage

The way the designer combines concrete and color is quite unique. The layers of rainbow-colored sheets were tossed in the air and piled on each other at random to give this form.

Mille-Feuille storage units by Emmanuelle Moureaux & Schonbuch

8. UNstudio – Gemini Chair

Setting up an asymmetric frame, the single surface body of the curves towards the floor on one side and arches upwards to from both an arm and backrest on the other. This shape offers the user the possibility to sit in a variety of positions and directions depending on the mood.

9. UNstudio – My Lounge Chair

The approach of industrial products is different than the normal architectural projects, where the designers decide to figure out how to make the chair a part of the environment. The concept of UNstudio MY Lounge Chair no recreates the feeling you get when relaxing after a hard day’s work.

10. UNstudio – Sit Table

People interact with each other in a variety of ways, whereas the SitTable looks to expand that horizon with much ease, creating an unconventional place.

SitTable by UNStudio for Prooff

11. GRAFT – Fat Tony

A seating system based on a modular setting and a lot of extra parts allows for a variety of possibilities. Fat Tony is very flexible in use,  it can be placed anywhere in the house, and also it can be altered to everyday requirements.

Courtesy of Graft lab

12. GRAFT – 1D Double WashBasin

The spatial concept revolutionized the bathroom design, by bringing to light the idea of having a double washbasin in a standalone installation within the bathroom. 13. J. Mayer H. – Lo Glo

Products can sometimes mimic the buildings designed by the architect, such as the Lo Glo in the Vitra museum that was inspired by the architect’s Lazika Pier project. Both the cases have foreign objects which seem to be devoid of purpose: when the Lo Glo illuminates it brings its function known.

J. MAYER H. project team: Juergen Mayer H., Marcus Blum

 14. J. Mayer H. – Soft Mosaic Collection

Many times architects have designed products that push the boundaries of materials, one such example is the Soft Mosaic Collection. The use of glass mosaic in seating elements comes to mind as the last materials that should be used whereas the Mosaic is shaped to the human body and can be used in wet environments like pools and bathrooms.

J. MAYER H. OBJECTS SOFT MOSAIC

15. Standard Architecture – Hidden Dragon Sofa

“Hidden Dragon” sofa for Moroso

The sofa has sinuous curves that invoke the imagery of the Western Mountains forming the seat-backs and separate niches for diverse seating experiences. The concept is taking from the Chinese tales of the water dragon, the form of the piece represents the interpretation of the invisible movements of the dragon and the blazing red color is to make it eye-catching.