Page 50 - Homes & Interiors Scotland

HOW BIZARRE

DESIGN INNOVATION

Fly by the seat

IT WAS A SCENE SNATCHED from Disney’s Up: the daring Daniel
Boria floating across a cloudless Calgary sky, strapped into a garden
chair attached to over 100 helium-filled balloons. The stunt, in July, was
to promote a cleaning company, but, instead, the 26-year-old succeeded
in spraining his ankle, getting himself arrested and making headlines
around the world.
Perhaps Boria might have fared better with Soane Britain’s flying
rattan chair. After all, it already sports a trusty set of wings, woven by
hand in the country’s last remaining rattan workshop. The surreal seat
was designed by Soane co-founder Lulu Lytle, one of 90 creatives who
took up the challenge of adapting a classic Ernest Race BA2 chair to raise
money for The Art Room, a children’s art therapy charity.
Re-Work It, as the resulting installation was called, saw the 90
transformed chairs showcased in Selfridges – suspended from
the ceiling.
“My first thought on being invited to design a chair that
would hang in Selfridges’ Atrium was flight,” explains Lulu, who
also had the piece painted in the store’s signature canary yellow.
During the exhibition, bids were invited for these unique
pieces, with all proceeds going to the charity. The Flying
Chair’s feet are now firmly on the ground, in a new owner’s
home. But don’t think you’ve seen the last of
it yet. Believe: a chair might just fly again.
Words Rosie Duncan

HOMES & INTERIORS SCOTLAND