Bone Chaise, designed by Joris Laarman, 2006, polyurethane-based resin, Edition 12 of 12

Chaise longue cast from clear polyurethane resin. The chair has an organic form which mimics the growth patterns of bones. A smooth-rounded seat, with a high back, is supported on the ground at three points. Each of these three 'feet' are connected to the seat via irregular, branching struts - these struts provide a strong, weight-bearing structure that supports the chair at its most pressured points.

The chair was cast in a mould. The V&A has also acquired the positive 'plug' that was used to create the mould: W.14-2012.

Purchased by the Design Fund

Joris Laarman graduated from the Eindhoven Design Academy in 2003. With his wife Anita Star, he established the studio Joris Laarman Lab in 2004. In the catalogue for a 2011 exhibition at the Kujke Gallery in Seoul, Laarman wrote "I call my work environment a lab because my team and I are always investigating. [...] we try to study and shape the future of design in collaboration with scientists, engineers, craftsmen and many other people. We experiment with new materials, production processes and concepts that can be precedents for the design of the future. You could say we make a sort of science fiction and then translate it into the real."

The Bone Chaise is part of a series of furniture which Laarman started in 2004. In his designs, Laarman was inspired by the research of the German academics Claus Mattheck and Lothar Hartzheim. Mattheck and Hartzheim created a computer algorithm that mimicked natural growth structures. Their research focussed on the ability of trees and bones to optimize their growth - adding material where strength is needed, but also removing material where unneccesary, without losing strength. In 1998 the German car manufacturer Adam Opel GmbH used this research to design a computer software programme for manufacturing a more efficient engine mount. Laarman collaborated with Adam Opel on the Bone furniture project, applying their software to furniture design.

edition of 12 + 3 Ap’s and prototype

This chair is part of a series of 'Bone' furniture by the Dutch designer Joris Laarman.The series was inspired by the work of German academics Claus Mattheck and Lothar Hartzheim. Mattheck and Hartzheim were interested in the ability of bones and trees to optimize their growth - adding material only where needed and removing it where unnecessary.They developed an algorithm which mimicked these growth patterns, and their work was taken up by the German car manufacturer Adam Opel GmbH. Laarman designed this chair using a computer programme developed by Adam Opel for manufacturing efficient engine mounts.

The chair's design is largely dictated by function, with the size and placement of its distinctive branching struts determined by the strength needed to support its elongated seat. Rather than using nature as a purely visual reference, Laarman's design is fundamentally structured by natural growth principles.

W.15-2012