These seats might not be able to match the Iron Throne in fierceness but they are as unique as that much coveted seat in Westeros.
Skull Chair & Brain Ottoman
Here’s a thinking man’s chair. Vladi Rapaport’s Skull Chair and Brain Ottoman are part of the Dutch craftsman’s “Vanitas” collection. The products are inspired by Dutch Vanitas still-life paintings from the 16th and 17th century. Vanitas paintings represent the ideas of time, death, and emptiness and how these remind people of the vanity of earthly life. Rapaport wanted to recreate that through the modern design vision. He wanted people to be surrounded by the Vanitas symbol to remind consumers of man’s mortality through a unique piece of furniture.
Peacock Armchair
This is one seat that’s sure to grab anyone’s attention. Dror Bershetrit took inspiration from the colorful pheasant to create the uniquely shaped armchair. It is made with crumpled sheets of felt and a metal base. It comes in one color (either green or blue) or double-color (green paired with gray).
Quartz Armchair
Photos: Thorsten Greve
The geometric shape of this armchair oddly reminds us of the rock-type Pokémon Onix. Greek design studio CTRLZAK and Davide Barzaghi created this nature-inspired armchair meant to replicate natural crystalloid formations. It combines two-dimensional hexagonal and pentagonal wooden structures with eco-fabrics in different shades to make it seem like the chair belongs in the wild.
Serenad Chair
Ali Alavi’s Serenad Chair has this premium sports car feel to it. We’re willing to guess it has something to do with the chrome. But it would seem the Tehran-based designer got his inspiration from one of Mother Earth’s graceful creatures, the swan—specifically, a sleeping swan that has its head between its wings. The soft, elegant curves are contrasted by the reflective chrome around it. It won’t exactly go with a lot of people’s furniture but if you’ve found an ideal spot for it, the Serenad would surely be the center of attention.
Octopus Chair
This menacing-looking piece looks like it has been taken straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean film. Maximo Riera’s Octopus Chair looks so realistic that you would think it was alive. Like the other animal-inspired pieces on this list. Riera tried to stay as faithful to the animal’s physique as he could. He paid attention to all the details of the octopus and tried to recreate that as accurately as he could. It is part of Riera’s Animal Chairs collection, which is meant to pay homage to these animals and the whole animal kingdom.
Fish Rocking Chair
Here’s another fishy companion for the home. It would probably be best not to have this near cats though. Tristan Cochrane drew from his 12-year experience in Scotland’s fishing industry to create this rocking chair. He made use of soft perishable sardines and did a process called lost wax casting to turn the sardines into durable aluminum. These pieces were mechanically fixed together and welded to produce the chair. He wanted the rocking chair to pay homage to the beauty of fish in nature as well as serve as an examination of how furniture is built these days.
Cut Chair
You might have second thoughts putting your bum down on this chair but it is a bit more stable than it looks. It may look like it only has one unbroken leg but that is just an optical illusion. Peter Bristol’s Cut Chair is built with a plate hidden underneath the thick carpet, turning it into a robust cantilevered seat.
Empty Chair
The Empty Chair is a statement piece in more ways than one. Maarten Baas designed the towering seat in honor of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Xiaobo is a Chinese writer, critic, and democracy activist serving an 11-year sentence for alleged subversion. Amnesty International hired Baas to design the piece to support the organizations campaign against the suppression of writers, journalists, artists, and activists. The chair is made out of pigmented clay and is meant to serve as a representation of repression and hope at the same time. The ladder-like part of the seat reaches up to 16 feet to the sky.
Bloom Chair
Filipino furniture designer Kenneth Cobonpue has his own share of innovative and avant-garde designs. One of them is the Bloom Chair that takes its inspiration from the Hibiscus flower. The petals of the flower are made out of microfiber, hidden resin top, and steel base. It even has handmade stitches to create the natural veinlets of the plant. Similar to the flower, it comes in many attractive colors: red, yellow, moss green, lime green, and black.
Mr. Smith the Second
As the name suggests, the Mr. Smith the Second is part of an evolution of chair design Anthony Hartley started 10 years ago called the Frank. The piece was inspired by Frank Gehry. Frank served as inspiration for the first Mr. Smith, a chair made out of laminated and polished birch plywood with multi-colored acrylics that pay homage to Paul Smith stripes. Mr. Smith the Second features hand sprayed, high gloss lacquered ply in multi-colored stripes. Each Mr. Smith the Second piece comes in unique color sequences. Customers can decide the color of the end panel to give it their own unique twist. It even comes with a certificate of authenticity that has code for chair’s unique DNA color sequencing.
