This sustainably minded furniture platform can be reconfigured with ease
3 Days of Design: Vitra Debuts a Sofa System of the Future by Panter&Tourron, Named Anagram
This sustainably minded furniture platform can be reconfigured with ease
Lausanne, Switzerland-based studio Panter&Tourron might not have the same global brand recognition as historic furniture manufacturer and design leader Vitra, but—as they both made evident during Copenhagen’s 3daysofdesign this week—their partnership on the Anagram Sofa (officially launching this September) demonstrates a powerful, shared orientation toward the future. The Anagram Sofa plays upon the concept of modular furniture but lifts its many restrictions to establish a platform that is reconfigurable as an owner’s needs change. This is achieved through a proprietary rail system that runs along the entire base of the sofa and allows a suite of accessories, including back rests and side panels, to latch on and pop off.
The concept is so streamlined and effective, it’s a wonder that it hasn’t been done before. Further, it carries the undeniable signatures of Panter&Tourron’s founders, Stefano Panterotto and Alexis Tourron. Their studio was approached by Vitra with a task: write a brief for a sofa for the future. Vitra had been intrigued by two previous Panter&Tourron projects. First, their furniture designed to be dismounted, collapsable and flat packed for Samara, the design lab of Airbnb. Second, their “Couch in an Envelope” for IKEA’s design lab, which was a sofa composed of an entirely recycled aluminum frame, with biodegradable fabric foam and knitting—that could fit entirely in a large envelope. Learnings from both of these projects infuse the Anagram.
Panter&Tourron determined that Anagram needed to be a single platform that was capable of performing different actions. “We saw a lot of possible improvements in the sofa world, which was still part of an old fashioned way of thinking compared to what we were seeing in sportswear or even fashion, where there is frequent technical innovation. The sofa was an archetype that hadn’t really been challenged,” Tourron tells COOL HUNTING in Copenhagen. “The vision to create a 360-degree sofa that you can really reconfigure easily started with the research we provided to Vitra. We observed that a sofa was originally designed to face a fireplace. That fireplace was replaced by a TV. TVs for the next generation will eventually disappear as screens have become ubiquitous and more personal. That means a sofa doesn’t have to look at a wall anymore.”
“We are very technical in our approach to design,” Tourron continues. “We pitched a platform that you can click components onto.” Vitra had immediate input: this concept would be copied by other brands very quickly unless they imagined a proprietary technical innovation that prevents it. With months of research and hundreds of prototypes, the rail system came to life. Testing was integral to its development because it needed to be easy to configure (e.g. snap accessories on and off) and also sturdy.
Panter&Tourron immersed themselves in material and production research. “We visited so many factories in China and through Europe. Everywhere, we saw that suspension belts were stapled to wood. Everything was glued or bonded. There was always a polyurethane block with glued fabric. We were like, ‘OK, you are creating fossils.’” This was all antithetical to the studio’s methodology, which they refer to as “design for disassembly.”
“A feature we found necessary for Anagram was that if any piece broke, it could be replaced,” Tourron says. Further, he adds, “Any material that Vitra already used that could be recycled needed to be implemented right away—and any material that was not from recycled sources should be recyclable in the future. That was the challenge we gave to Vitra.”
“We really looked a lot toward Eames,” Tourron says. “We had a chance to live in San Francisco, when Airbnb was one of our main clients. One of their founders, Joe Gebbia, is a big investor in the Eames Foundation. He gave us an opportunity to meet with the daughters and visit the archives. We were fascinated with their work and the simplicity they brought to each product. Everything was function-driven. That’s why we decided to use a raw aluminum frame, made from 100% recycled aluminum. We were super-strict with Vitra to push them toward that.”
Panter&Tourron wove in some Vitra furniture signatures (like the shape of the dye-cast legs) but said no to others (like chrome and leather). “Instead, we had to find beautiful materials and colors that conveyed a sense of luxury and desirability,” Tourron says. “All of the fabrics are either natural, cotton or wool, or from recycled materials. The biggest challenge we gave to Vitra, however, was that we did not want any polyurethane. The main cushion is stuffed with recycled PET fibers. This was handled on their side. They did their homework and found better options for filling.” Currently, there is still a slender polyurethane strip in the cushion because there was no other material available in the studio to guarantee the highest level of comfort—but Tourron says they already have a solution to replace it which will roll out in a year or two. It will be very easy to replace in the existing product.
“A big part of our research was to study how people have been sitting on sofas for the last 100 years,” Tourron says. “We realized that our parents’ and grandparents’ generations were more formal, even with their children and friends. We had an opportunity to do a lot of research in America and observe a more relaxed attitude today. We wanted to create a product for Vitra that was cozy and comfy and less stiff.” To do so, they utilized an enhanced seat depth and set it lower to the ground. “You can add pillows—we have three sets designed with the sofa—to change the seat depth,” he adds. Currently, Panter&Tourron is honing the next Anagram model, which will be firmer, higher and with a shorter seat depth, too, which they say will be ideal for office use.
Panter&Tourron’s work as designers across industries powers their capabilities. “Our strength as a design studio is that we do not want to be furniture makers, we want to be transversal,” Tourron says. “We work a lot with fashion brands like Balenciaga, and sports brands, and tech brands. We take ideas and innovations from one and implement them in another. We are not traditional shapers of sofas.”
Panter&Tourron’s approach that sets Anagram apart—this is underscored by the fact that they are not only design thinkers but design educators (at ECAL, where Panterotto and Tourron first met as students). “Before, designers were engineers or architects,” Tourron says. “They weren’t superstars, they were people doing a good job. We respect and admire that. I think the industry has lost the sense of what a design studio is.” Tourron explains that they design with data first, not their pens: “We are still shapers, but this is dictated by function. Our studio’s vision is to bring a smart, technical approach. I also want all designers to feel responsible for the planet. If you are working on an industrial, mass produced piece, you have to commit to being responsible.”
Ultimately, it’s as easy to design your own Anagram Sofa on Vitra’s site, selecting colors and materials and accessories, as it is to reconfigure it at home, popping off one side panels and clicking it on to the other side of the couch. Some of our home spaces are getting smaller, others are getting busier. Anagram aims to stick around through all the change.