During the month of May, the Calligaris Milan showroom featured a jungle of multicolored cord that devoured the room from floor to ceiling. Tangled deep within the ropes were lawn chairs, each tightly wound with colorful cord in all kinds of intricate patterns and hung between the ropes as if levitating or stuck in mid air.
This festive mesh of rope and chair is the creation of Stephen Burks, a New York designer. Burks’ chair installation, named Variations, was curated by PS Design Consultants. The company invited Burks to Calligaris’ production center in Manzano and gave him free range of their stock of chairs to alter and experiment with.
Courtesy of Stephen Burks
Burks took these chairs and began his cord creations by encasing the chairs in vibrant ropes and weaving them together into towers and bulky structures. Burks hopes that Variations will help expand the future of plastic chairs.
Burk’s studio “Readymade Projects” may create a new seating collection based off Variations and the installation might become a part of the Paris Designer Days in June. Check out Variations on Burks’ website readymadeprojects.com or look for it on Dezeen, Youtube, Beyond.com, Pintrest, and Twitter.
Anastasia Andreieva is an accomplished Architectural Projects Editor at Arch2O, bringing a unique blend of linguistic expertise and design enthusiasm to the team. Born and raised in Ukraine, she holds a Master’s degree in Languages from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Her deep passion for architecture and visual storytelling led her to transition from translation and editorial roles into the world of design media. With a keen eye for conceptual clarity and narrative structure, Anastasia curates and presents global architectural projects with precision and flair. She is particularly drawn to parametric and digital design, cultural context, and emerging voices in architecture. When I’m not analyzing the latest architectural trends, you’ll probably find me searching for hidden gems in cityscapes or appreciating the beauty of well-crafted spaces. After all, great design—like great connections—can be found in the most unexpected places. Speaking of connections, because architecture isn’t the only thing that brings people together.