Plastic Fantastic

Prolific Japanese design firm, nendo, is changing how we perceive a sofa or chair. It recently created a range of 'bouncy' furniture for Chinese brand KUKA, where polycarbonate sheets are bent and shaped into chairs, sofas and stools that promise to be more comfortable than they look.

Unlike conventional seats which make use of padding such as foam, cotton, feathers, springs or just cushions, the sheets of plastic are bent and shaped according to how soft they want the seats to be.

By varying the amount of space between the plastic sheets, the softness of the seat or back can be altered. Softness also varies according to how curved each sheet is - the less curvy it is, the more stiff the seat is. In this way, the furniture is soft at the point of human contact, but strong at the joint of the frame.