MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair

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  • 2022

  • Product
    Furniture and Lighting

Designed By:

  • Nüüd Studio
  • Kerli Valk
  • Brad Mitchell

Commissioned By:

Naomi Milgrom Foundation

Designed In:

Australia

MPavilion is Australia’s leading architectural commission, which annually engages a leading architect to design a pavilion for Melbourne. The MPavilion then becomes an innovative civic space for the community to enjoy a free diverse cultural program. Nüüd Studio were selected to design the seating for the MPavilion 2021 season.


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Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
Image: Gavin Green
  • CHALLENGE
  • SOLUTION
  • IMPACT
  • MORE

  • The brief presented to Nüüd Studio was to design seating for audiences attending MPavilion 2021’s cultural events, that would both compliment and activate the bright and joyful architecture of the MPavilion by MAP studio (Venice). The seating had to be weatherproof, stackable, lightweight and easy to clean and disinfect. Other key considerations were that the seating be durable and versatile enough to sustain the 4-month long season of varied daily programming. Additionally, Nüüd Studio were asked to use sustainable materials and production practices where possible.

  • Nüüd Studio’s response to the design brief was born from the universal longing for reconnection and community post-pandemic. The MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair explores notions of joy and desire by bringing people together in a playful and inviting way. The chair achieves this through flexibility and adaptability. It can be used as separate individual seating or connected together to make a bench, or when all the pieces are joined a complete circle is formed. The Dancer Chair is made from recycled milk and juice bottles and the colour is customised to accentuate the MPavilion's yellow and grey colour palette.

  • The MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair is an instrument of joy, unity and repair that encourages the public to reconnect and engage across the spatial and cultural divides that have increasingly separated us over the past two years. The form of the chair is influenced by Henri Matisse’s 'Dance II', emulating the open hands of the embracing dancers, further inspiring togetherness among patrons. Each individual Dancer Chair relies on its counterparts to form unifying lines resulting in continuous reconfigurations. This intuitive dance encourages MPavilion attendees to become choreographers themselves, experimenting endlessly with the way the space is used.

  • The MPavilion 2021 Dancer Chair is a simple yet practical, sustainable and effective design that serves its function perfectly. An innovative, lighthearted and joyful solution in a time of unprecedented challenges.