Coalesse Wins 2016 GOOD DESIGN™ Award
Chicago Athenaeum Honors LessThanFive Chair by Coalesse in the Furniture Category
Coalesse, the insight-led, design-driven furniture company, is proud to announce that the LessThanFive Chair has been recognized by the Chicago Athenaeum with a 2016 GOOD DESIGN Award. Founded in Chicago in 1950 by architects Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., GOOD DESIGN bestows international recognition upon the world’s most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts, invention and originality, and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered ordinary product and consumer design.
The LessThanFive Chair, designed by the Coalesse Design Group and Hong Kong-based designer Michael Young, is an example of how technology has revolutionized the workplace. The lightweight stacking chair is fabricated entirely from carbon fiber – a new medium in the furniture industry and one of the strongest and lightest materials available. A specially designed, intuitive visualization tool invites members of the A&D community to participate in the design process by applying custom colors, graphics, and logos to personalize the chair; turning a usually complicated and time-consuming process into a simple and engaging experience.
“We wanted to explore the boundaries of design using cutting-edge technology and materials that redefine craft in the new age of global manufacturing,” said John Hamilton, Director of Design at Coalesse. “Working with world-class design talent and the world’s best carbon fiber craftsman helped us to engineer a solution of lasting value that expresses something very efficient, optimized, and smart.”
Michael Young said, “The chair’s structure and form was developed as a result of working with a factory that is a worldwide leader in producing state-of-the-art, high-performance bicycles and car parts. This technology is ideal for the development of an exceedingly lightweight stacking chair.”
About GOOD DESIGN Awards
Now in its 66th year, the GOOD DESIGN Awards remain the oldest and most recognized program for design excellence worldwide, conferred annually by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Judges meet and select over 700 product designs and graphics from over 36 nations based on innovation, form, materials and construction, concept, function, utility, and aesthetic appeal. The Alessi products will be featured with other award recipients on the Chicago Athenaeum website at www.chi-athenaeum.org.
About Coalesse
Led by intuition, backed by research, and driven by design – Coalesse creates thoughtful furnishings for the modern workplace. We help our customers to make great spaces that inspire great work by empowering social connection, creative collaboration, and focus and rejuvenation. From our San Francisco studio for workplaces around the world, we design products that blend beauty and utility, comfort and vitality, and insights with inspiration to bring new life to work. As part of the Steelcase Inc. family of brands, we are globally accessible through a network of over 800 dealers.
