The Shape of Seating to Come: Lauren Rottet’s Lyda Lounge

Holding pride of place in the Haworth Collection showroom at NeoCon 2019 was a new sofa designed by Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA. In a market with sofas aplenty, why does the world need this one? That question is quickly answered but doing so involves three men and a limousine.

Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA, founding principal and president of Rottet Studio, an international architecture and design firm. Photo: Damian Miranda provided courtesy of the Naftali Group

In Chicago, at NeoCon 2019, sitting near the show samples of LydaTM lounge, Ms. Rottet reflected on designing this and the upcoming Lawson lounge. In an hour’s sitting, she told this design’s story.

Like meteors crossing the starfield, glimmers of inspiration from the masterworks of Charles Pfister, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and artist James Turrell made themselves known.

These inspirations and more whirled into Ms. Rottet’s own experiences in creating award-winning projects in architecture, interiors and products resulted in Lyda lounge.

The first iteration of the lounge series for the Haworth Collection offers a lithe, versatile silhouette and tailoring worthy of an elite coachbuilder’s limousine. Still, the genesis of bespoke design then worked much the same as it does now.

The sofa previewed at NeoCon came about one year after Kurt Vander Schuur, Haworth’s Global Brand Director, initiated the project with Ms. Rottet. Both held an interest in collaborating, but the right opportunity was slow to materialize. Once it did, progress was swift.

“Kurt asked me to design a sofa, and I told him I’d do it,” said Ms. Rottet. “This project happened fast.” But there was time enough for her to plan not only a sofa but, in fact, a tightly-packaged work platform.

Having clients with global enterprises allows Ms. Rottet to observe people at work in every sort of setting and place. Niels Diffrient remarked years ago about the insights of an informed observer having infinite design value.

Some might quibble over who qualifies as an observer informed. But whatever the qualifications, most would agree Ms. Rottet meets them all.

Among her observations was that a surprising number of laptop users have little need for work surfaces layered with documents. She found this especially true in co-working locations, with people draped about on lounge chairs and sofas, laptops in hand.

Lyda lounge, designed by Lauren Rottet, debuted in the Haworth Collection showroom at NeoCon 2019, with availability in 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Haworth
Lyda lounge presents a tailored appearance from any angle, a necessity for room plans with centrally-placed sofas. Photo: Courtesy of Haworth
One, two and three-seat units and a corner with or without arms mix for modular arrangements. Shown with optional tablet arms and surfaces. Photo: Courtesy of Haworth

Just as frequent were room plans with sofas centrally placed as if to create a hub, with other furniture and equipment distributed around it.

“I started thinking about how the sofa, within these open spaces, can be the anchor in the middle,” said Ms. Rottet. That thought drove her investigation into “all the parts and pieces needed in a sofa line” to serve as a work platform, with styling like none other.

“I’m very much of a minimalist and a modernist,” said Lauren Rottet. “The illusion of seeing past something, over something and having these things in your vision is something I love to play with – I think that Mies was an absolute master at that.”

“Our Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has one of the last buildings Mies designed,” said Ms. Rottet. “To this day, I almost cry when I go in there.”

The appointment of a new director at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 1961 led to the commission of a second van der Rohe building on the MFAH campus. The first began in 1953 with an “extraordinary gift” by Nina J. Cullinan for a building to honor her parents.

He delighted his client with a curved, glass-enclosed space, opening onto a broad lawn and the street beyond. Cullinan Hall was dedicated in 1958. The MFAH again engaged van der Rohe in 1961.

The Brown Pavilion addition at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, dedicated in 1974 and an inspiration for Ms. Rottet’s design vision. Photo: Courtesy of MFAH.org
The curving glass façade of Mies-designed Cullinan Hall allowed alluring street views of the museum’s exhibits on display inside. The Brown Pavilion positions in front of this façade. Photo: Courtesy of MFAH.org

Progress on the project continued despite the MFAH’s director who launched the idea left the museum in 1967, and the architect himself passed away in 1969. The building’s dedication followed five years later.

The multi-level Brown Pavilion boasted a new entrance lobby, a sprawling second-floor exhibit space and a lower-level theater. Paul Goldberger commented on this building as “one of Mies’s most stunning spaces,” according to the MFAH website.

A view of the free-span exhibition space on Brown Pavilion’s second floor at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, reviewed as one of van der Rohe’s most stunning spaces. Photo: Courtesy of MFAH.org

In-between the museum projects in Houston, Mies found his way to a Chicago apartment for a dinner where he met Dr. Edith Farnsworth. In time, she became his firm’s client, the owner of a home Mies designed and the plaintiff in a suit against the architect, his work and his reputation. Some believe it was more of a broken heart than broken contracts that brought the parties to court.

Chicago’s Newberry Research Library described the Farnsworth matter in a single paragraph of fewer than 90 words. Dr. Farnsworth asked Mies to build a weekend cottage for her. He did, at a higher expense than she expected. She withheld payment. He sued. She countersued. The jury found for the architect.

The streamlined architecture of the Farnsworth House figured into the sleek look of Lyda lounge designed by Lauren Rottet. Photo: Victor Grigas
Architect Mies van der Rohe reportedly said he built the Farnsworth House of “almost nothing.” It is a prime example of minimalist expression. Photo: Victor Grigas

A present-day architect trying to solve flooding on the site quoted Mies saying “almost nothing” was used in building the glass box house. Planned in 1947 and constructed in 1951, the house was a private residence for over 50 years. The building, now a historic site, exemplifies streamlined architecture set against a rustic environment.

Whether romance blossomed between architect and client is unresolved, although actors Ralph Fiennes and Maggie Gyllenhaal intend on making audiences believe that it did. Reports about a possible film have appeared in Tinseltown tattlers over the last few years. Screenwriter and award-winning documentarian Richard Press is set to direct.

Recalling the two MFAH buildings and the Farnsworth House, Lauren Rottet said, “I think those spaces influenced me more than I realize.” On Lyda lounge, those references are detailing and proportions.

“The proportions have been well thought out,” said Ms. Rottet. She explained that the design has the appropriate distance between the seat and the arm height, and a dimensional relationship she considers vital in a sofa.

“The two most important things about a sofa are the seat depth and the back pitch,” said Ms. Rottet. Her studies in the relationship of these two dimensions come from specifying furniture and designing seating products. “I think we’ve nailed the dimensions.”

That includes achieving a European sofa’s silhouette with taller seat height. A bit of visual trickery makes this possible. “It’s not so much height of the seat as it is the height of the back,” said Ms. Rottet. The height at the crown of the seat is 17.5-inches, with an overall back height of 29.5-inches.

Lyda lounge sits comfortably and supportively without appearing chunky. Ms. Rottet explains that “by the time you get a sofa with the right seat height and right ergonomics it can look too big or a bit too tall.”

Great care went into the exact proportion of the back and the strength of the back pillows. Ms. Rottet said, “Even though they are upholstered pillows, they are strong enough to support your back, so you don’t feel like the back is too low.”

The proportion in furniture was a specialty of Ms. Rottet’s fellow Skidmore, Owings & Merrill alumnus, Charles Pfister. He was well known to Ms. Rottet and influential members of the A&D community. This community could be extended to include Editor in Chief of INTERIORS Magazine, Beverly Russell.

“It became fundamental at SOM to consult Knoll on interior specifications particularly in the 1960s and early 70s when the company held a commanding position in the field of ‘classic’ furniture,” wrote Ms. Russell in January 1986. “After working with Knoll on the Stephens system for Weyerhaeuser, Pfister presented the company with the first of many ideas – a modular seating system.”

Of Charles Pfister, Lauren Rottet said, “He was very influential when I was a young architect and designer at SOM. We would study the Pfister pieces and the Pfister way of doing things, such as the way he laid out materials.”

What Mr. Pfister accomplished with his lounge design in 1971 was a set of dimensions and proportions ideal for office, home, or hotel.

“The Pfister sofa was always a classic,” said Ms. Rottet. She adds that the sofa has been specified in offices and residences for years, placing the Pfister collection squarely in the crossover category before anyone called it that. “Just like some of Mies’s furniture,” she said. Perhaps the scale explains why.

“I looked very carefully at the dimensions,” said Ms. Rottet of the sofa she was designing for the Haworth Collection. “I wanted it to be fairly narrow.” The Pfister sofa ranges from 29.5” deep for the Petite to 33-inches deep for the Standard.

That leads to Ms. Rottet’s thoughts on tailoring the upholstery for the design, and specifics of what stitch goes where.

“I’m very picky about stitching,” said Ms. Rottet, who saw the craft of sewing in practice. “My mother made many of my clothes. She was raised by a mother who was very, very particular about the making of clothes.”

Ms. Rottet said she could sew, but “I was never very good at it – I’m more the designer than the maker!”

A maker with exceptional tailoring is Poltrona Frau, headquartered in Tolentino, Italy. “I went there and watched the way they upholstered,” said Ms. Rottet. She saw how they stitched, the gauge of the stitch and the size of the thread.

On seeing how the Italian firm did things, Ms. Rottet said, “They were perfectly happy for me to see and use those details. So the furniture made in Michigan will, in many ways, be upholstered like the Poltrona Frau pieces in Italy.”

In discussing the tailoring on the show samples, there’s a reasonable comparison to the work of a fine coachbuilder in wool and leather. In the 1930s and the pre-war 40s, various grades and weaves of wool upholstery were commonplace in automobiles, including mohair.

It’s similar to the instance of a restored 1937 Rolls Royce Limousine de Ville, with West of England woolen upholstery for the passenger compartment, and leather for the driver’s seat.

Experiencing Lyda lounge brought to mind the fine tailoring in vintage Rolls Royce Limousines, this one from 1937 shown with West of England Cloth. Photo: boddice.co.uk

Leather was the material of saddles and other hard-wearing goods. It would be exposed to the elements. In other words, it was a material of work, the opposite of England’s prized woolens.

Wool tailors well, wears beautifully and looks good. How wool’s sheen interacts with light is another virtue, especially the Angora fibers of mohair.

Known by many as the diamond fabric, the website for Mohair USA points to luster, resilience and color reflection among mohair’s exclusive qualities.

“You never see mohair the same way,” said Ms. Rottet. “Mohair combines these beautiful natural fibers, so the eye gathers different perceptions in different lighting.” She specified mohair upholstery for the setting displayed in the Haworth Collection showroom. The upholstery choice was consequential, as was the cushion construction, to the comfort she envisioned.

“When you think of residential sofas, you think down cushions that squish and leave wrinkles, something that commercial customers won’t accept,” said Ms. Rottet. “I told them to trust me, this won’t wrinkle – you’ll sit on it, you’ll be comfortable and when you stand, the wrinkles will be gone.”

Lyda lounge will be made in Michigan but integrates upholstery techniques Ms. Rottet saw on a visit to Poltrona Frau in Italy. Photo: Courtesy of Haworth

She overnight-shipped the proof of how they could make a comfortable cushion that would pass the wrinkle test.

A range of upholstery materials will be available for Lyda lounge, but mohair is significant for its resistance to sagging and wrinkling. Nor is mohair itchy to the skin, a sensible benefit in an environment of long hours and deep collaboration.

“A lot of thought went into how conversations and work happen,” said Ms. Rottet. The sizing of the arms leaves room for a wrap-around of the seat cushion, so it is more comfortable to turn and lean while seated. “A sofa can make you feel sequestered with arms flush to the front.”

Ms. Rottet included a backless peninsula matched to the height and depth of the sofa’s seat cushion. Two or maybe three can perch here and join the conversation thanks to the friendly angling of the peninsula’s shape.

The freedom for users to adapt Lyda lounge to what they need now and change to what they need later is a hallmark of designs by Lauren Rottet. “I like objects with chameleon qualities, that can change and don’t seem too permanent.” As a for instance, the work of light and space artists.

What she admires is how they make space out of nothing and manipulate the shape of space out of nothing. They use no materials in the conventional sense, only light. A most prominent artist among them is James Turrell.

He’s been called one of the world’s most important working artists. He has earned revered awards in art and architecture. His work appears in exhibits and installations worldwide.

In describing the art of James Turrell in 2002 on sculpture.org, Elaine King wrote: “His work encourages us to reconsider our connection and comprehension of the outside world.”

She added: “Since the mid-1960s, he has been using projected light to create perceptions of solid forms and employing artificial light to create various perceptions of the light’s presence.”

As Mr. Turrell told sculpture.org, “I see light as a thing – it is optical material. But we don’t treat it as such. Instead, we use it very casually to illuminate other things.”

James Turrell demonstrates the use of projected light to create the illusion of walls or barriers. Photo: “Wedgeworks” via jamesturrell.com

Other artists work in paint or stone with a painting or a sculpture as a result. In Mr. Turrell’s vernacular, they are making a thing using other things or combination of things. For him, light is the thing.

In 2015, England’s Houghton Hall, Norfolk hosted an exhibition of James Turrell’s works. The Marquess of Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton and a longtime admirer of Turrell’s work, collected many of the artworks on display.

Houghton Hall’s website said Mr. Turrells’s “principal concern has been the way that we apprehend light and space.”  Influential critics and media in London were effusive in their praise of the exhibit.

The artworks of James Turrell are favorites of Ms. Rottet for their minimalism and creations of space using only light. Photo: “Amba 1983” via jamesturrell.com

In ways, James Turrell’s work is a merging of inspirations Lauren Rottet discovered in the design journey to Lyda lounge. There’s Pfister’s proportionality. The visual connections van der Rohe created between the distant and the near. And from Mr. Turrell himself, the sensory experiences art introduces into architecture.

Next year, Lyda Lounge is an experience coming to a marketplace with blurred lines between office, residential and hospitality. “It’s a funny thing,” said Lauren Rottet of the design’s crossover appeal at this early stage. “We’ve checked all the boxes!”

Without seeing her new product or sitting on it, a major hotelier wants it for their new headquarters Ms. Rottet’s firm is designing. Having seen it at NeoCon, INTERIOR DESIGN editor Cindy Allen wants Lyda lounge for her home.

It held pride of place in the Haworth Collection’s NeoCon showroom. Soon enough, Lauren Rottet’s Lyda lounge will be in prideful places elsewhere.

As researcher, writer and commentator, Stephen Witte reports and advises on trends shaping the future for the A&D community, manufacturers and distribution channels. His background includes corporate roles in product management, product development and public relations. He can be reached at stephenmwitte@gmail.com.