architecture, design & graphics

Embryo Chair, Marc Newson

The Embryo chair exemplifies Marc Newson’s interest in industrial technologies and materials, such as aluminum and polyurethane. The three-legged chair’s sculptural form is shaped from injection-molded polyurethane foam and covered in neoprene—a synthetic rubber used in a wide variety of applications including wetsuits. Any sense of decoration is inherent to Newson’s materials and construction method. The chair has no applied ornament or pattern, but its organic form allows for sensuous surface effects.

In the early 1990s Newson’s furniture took on a characteristic hourglass shape. Often he would combine the sumptuous curves with sensual holes and hollows, as seen in the Embryo chair. Newson claimed, “Leaving spaces means you can see how things work, it means you are not hiding anything. It gives a dynamic impression of your work. It’s almost like a fourth dimension.”

Architecture, Design & Graphics