‘It’s a beautiful idea because it only works with the user”

The Swiss furniture brand Vitra has produced some of the world’s most iconic seating: from Charles and Ray Eames’ Lounge Chair and Ottoman (1956) to Verner Pantone’s sinuous namesake (1967), and Frank Gehry’s snaking Wiggle chair (1972). So, when it unveils a new chair design at Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign festival, one’s instinct is to sit up and take notice.

The Bascule Lounge Chair and Ottoman is currently being previewed at its Copenhagen showroom, before it launches officially in September. Representing a vision of the future, one might expect the brand to have taken a high-tech approach, but its chair leans effortlessly into analogue: exploring the simplicity of a steel mechanism that uses body weight to create comfort as the user moves. It is a chair made for the aspirations of gen-next: honest, easily repairable and long-lasting – a soft, familiar armchair defined by intuitive comfort. 

“Bascule means ‘seesaw’ in French alluding to the seat mechanism's mode of function. It’s a weight automated mechanism that does not rely on lots of springs, parts and oil dampeners,” says Vitra’s chief design officer Christian Grosen Rasmussen. “The seat and backrest is suspended from two pivot points hidden in the armrests, so it acts almost like a floating rocking chair. You can sit upright to read a book, gently rock back and forth or, by using the ottoman to support the feet, slide smoothly all the way down in a reclining position and really relax. It’s a beautiful idea because it only works with the user.”

Vitra’s mechanical wonder is only one element of Bascule’s innovative design. The  “jacket”, which wraps around the mechanism is the other, lending the chair its distinctive “loose” silhouette and enveloping the user “like a favourite coat”, which can be slipped on and off for maintenance, or replaced to update the style. 

This jacket was conceived by the Berlin-based design duo Lisa Ertel and Anne-Sophie Oberkrome of Studio Œ, who worked with Vitra on the chair. I meet them, alongside Grosen Rasmussen, in Café Tiergarten, a trendy go-to in "Hansaviertel (Hansa Quarter), a part of Berlin built in 1957 by the world’s leading architects – among them Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto and Oscar Niemeyer – as a “City of Tomorrow.” It is a fitting setting to talk about Bascule – Vitra’s own future proposition.

“Vitra obtained three of our designs for its design museum in Weil am Rhein: the Neil chair, a bench and the Dune stool, which were exhibited at the Schaudepot, its permanent exhibition space,” says Ertel of the trust placed in what is a relatively young team by the brand, as we pass around coffee and tuck into soup and sourdough sandwiches. 

The pair, who began working together whilst studying product design at Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design “and never really stopped”, are known for their collaborative approach; they are the founders of the Berlin collective FAN, a group of friends creating experimental objects, exhibition installations and functional design concepts. “FAN gives us freedom to explore more artistic directions or collaborate across different disciplines such as craft or architecture,” says Oberkrome. “Some of these projects result in small editions and one-offs, but they’re grounded in functionality – that's our roots.”

Establishing Studio Œ in 2021 helped the pair solidify those roots. The name – taken from the ligature formed from the initials of their surnames – symbolises "the coming together of two perspectives within a shared creative philosophy". They have a research-  and material-driven approach, transforming observations from everyday life into design solutions within an open-ended process – the journey of discovery being as important as the end result. They’re also known for a mindful, sustainable stance: previous designs include the DOPO collection of stools and the OTO bench, console and side table for the Italian furniture brand Mattiazzi (which act “as an extension of architecture for any space”); and the Broom Chair, developed in collaboration with the Berlin brush-making manufactory USE, replacing toxic PU foam and heavy upholstery with natural bristles using revived traditional braiding techniques.

Their work on Bascule began by draping fabric around the mechanism. “The movement is the exciting thing about this chair, so we gave the fabric room to behave naturally – and the fabric revealed to us what it wanted to do,” says Oberkrome. “We were able to observe at what points the fabric drapes and where it tightens, which can’t be achieved when working with sketches on a computer screen. So our process was very hands-on and we continued to work with mock-ups, working directly with the material.” 

“There were a lot of mock-ups!” Ertel adds, dipping bread into her soup bowl and fishing it out with a spoon. “We spent a lot of time in the basement of our studio studying where all of the seams and zippers shifted as the chair moved – and with every mock-up the cover transformed. The initial concept was that of a scarf wrapping around the chair but this evolved into the idea of a jacket because we wanted to have as few seams and parts as possible.”

Finishing the jacket, however, was not a simple matter. “We had to adapt to the mindset of a tailor, “says Oberkrome, “and that extended to Vitra’s upholstery team – it was new for all of us.”

Grosen Rasmussen nods. “It’s a completely different way of doing upholstery,” he says. “We didn’t make it easy for ourselves because we wanted the chair to be user friendly not just in terms of sitting but in ensuring it’s serviceable and prepared for a second and third life. You might have to change a few parts in the years to come, but essentially it’s made to last. And while the first owner of this chair may want it in a blue fabric, the next one might want it in yellow velvet. Changing the way we work to allow for those options, now and in years to come, is a huge deal.”

“So the jacket slips off to ensure the chair is super serviceable, nothing is glued,” Ertel adds, hammering home the point. “And each textile – for example Iroko or Hola – will come in many colours, as well as a two-tone version in a Cento textile.”

I ask why Bascule comes in two versions: a highback (with an integrated height-adjustable neck cushion), from £3,050, or a lowback model, from £2,420 excluding the ottoman, both available with either a four-star aluminium swivel base or a wooden base. “The headrest came from the idea that some people like an extra pillow when they relax – we wanted to create a sense of deep cosiness,” Ertel says.

Before I leave Berlin, I am fortunate enough to experience this cosiness first hand. I fall into the seat, rest my feet on the ottoman and glide smoothly back into blissful suspension. Do I miss my flight home? Almost…