George Nelson Marshmallow Sofa

Dave — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:35:36 +0000

The George Nelson Marshmallow Sofa was designed by Nelson and Irving Harper in 1954. As you can see from the picture, the Marshmallow Sofa is considered one of the most unconventional sofas in design history. The sofa abandons the traditional form and instead adopts 18 adjoined cushions and a very simple steel structure. Sofas can even be attached to one another with a connecting element, which enables the sofas to be assembled in very long configurations if desired.

The Marshmallow Sofa is often said to be ahead of its time both aesthetically and technically. The original manufacturing run of the sofa was not very long and did not include many units. However, the design was reintroduced into the Vitra catalogue in 1999. The sofa can be found in many solid colors, as well as the multicolored version featured above.

Walter Gropius D51 Armchair and Sofa

Dave — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:16:57 +0000

In 1910 Walter Gropius established his own design practice and joined the Deutscher Werkbund, an association of German artists,architects, designers, and industrialists. That sameyear, he designed this sofa and armchair set, which was supposed to be Gropius’ solution to the Deutscher Werkbund’s debate over whether standardization and creative expression could be reconciled in design. As the pictures show, Gropius’ designs combine a beautiful aesthetic with a relatively simple structure that could be standardized and easily reproduced.

More pictures after the jump.

Oh the Modernity! » Sofas

George Nelson Marshmallow Sofa

Walter Gropius D51 Armchair and Sofa