Designed by UNStudio’s Founder and Principal Architect Ben van Berkel, the unique shapes comprising this state-of-the-art sofa are completely adaptable. Ben has designed Circle for office spaces, providing a place for informal working and lounging, in keeping with the on-trend ‘wellbeing in the workplace’ ethos carried out by many of today’s corporate companies.
A travel back in time to a 1950s traditional office space would showcase a corporate setting accompanied with a mist of grey standard furnishings. However, as typewriters began to be replaced with computers this all began to change. Today’s corporate companies seek innovative furnishings and sleek interiors, showcasing the creativity and uniqueness behind their brands. The Circle showcases how far the design of the office has come over recent years, with angles of inclination, adaptable backrests and seating areas that allow users to sit upright or decline into a lounge position, attributing to wellbeing.
Ben has produced six individual elements within this design to enable users to build numerous variations of relaxation. The Circle has been designed by Ben to extend to the client’s needs. With no limitations for add-ons, the Circle enables clients to build-up the sofa to create a focal point of the room and provide a place for staff to work collaboratively, or relax for break out areas.
Circle is produced from a steel construction frame, with the corpus produced from a foam-moulded cold cure foam enabling its organic flowing shape. Ben has designed Circle’s frame with a metal frame as it is lighter than wooden frames and eliminates the need for any springing or suspensions to be incorporated within the design. Ben explains: “Particularly for modern designs of upholstered furniture, metal frames are used as a base frame or as a steel inlay.”
Ben has designed the Circle in a variety of vibrant colours to underline its sculptural character, providing its aesthetics with an enhanced three-dimensional effect.
Described by Ben as “More of a sculpture than typical office furniture”, he has still ensured this design takes on typical wear-and-tear that office furniture endures, by using fabrics with an elastic content that are particularly durable for office environments.
Ben believes that a sofa used within an office premises should serve as a living and working space, a place where workers can answer their emails, open their mail, surf the net, read documents and write. As he explains: “We see the sofa as an object in a room, an architectural element; positioned centrally within a room, open to a whole range of possible connections. Because a sofa is not only just there for relaxation.”
First designed and presented at Salone Internazionale del Mobile in 2005 in Milan, Circle’s design has been consistent since the day of its inception.