New sofa bed designs usually incorporate a ready-made, inexpensive mechanism and clad it with a novel outer shell. A starting scenario we didn’t like. Our concept was to strive for the opposite: don’t hide anything, show how it works. The furniture and the mechanism should no longer be conceived separately. Furniture and mechanism become one.
The thin steel rods following the lines of force and performing the movements are all visible. All the pivot points too, where the rods converge in a wooden anchor. The backrest and seat almost seem to float and can be brought into a horizontal position independently of each other.
A 1:1 functional model was built in the studio to test the movement patterns and statics.
A design model in original scale made of milled hard foam and sewn upholstery elements with an attached armrest.
The pivot point between the seat and backrest moves along a virtual axis using two guided sliding movements. Built-in pneumatic dampers brake the backrest during rotation.
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Under the upholstered elements, the substructure with pneumatic springs, virtual pivot point and seat fixation is visible to the naked eye.
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