Vienna Design Week 2011 - FLAXX chair13. Jan2012
FLAXX is a chair made from 3D shaped flax material sustained by a steel tubing structure coated with floor glide.
It's an elegant chair which combines the stability of a four-legged chair with the comfort of a cantilever chair. Also the chair can be stackable and above all, it's 100% recyclable.
The seat shell comes in different colours (black, sand, natural, white, green,etc) and with additional coatings - such as a textile surface. Thanks to the material’s weather-resistance, the FLAXX chair is suitable for both indoor and outdoor areas. Also FLAXX chair can be configured individually with armrests or your company logo embossed directly onto the FLAXX seat shell.
FLAXX chair was presented this year at Vienna Design Week in one of the superb balconies from the top lobby of the 'stilwerk' building.
Photos by Patrick Moraras.
"Flax fibres are obtained from flax plants. As early as 7000 years ago, Egyptian mummies were being wrapped in strips of flax and linen. From ancient times right up until the European Middle
Ages, flax and linen fibres were the most important materials for clothing – alongside wool. In
the 19th century, flax was gradually pushed out by cotton. The past decades have seen flax once
again gaining importance as an ecological natural fibre."
"In addition to linen clothing, flax fibres – with their outstanding mechanical characteristics – are being increasingly employed as reinforcing fibres for natural fibre composite materials.
For example, in the automotive industry (one of the largest consumers of flax) for car interior
linings, rear window shelves and the like. The resulting products are characterised by a high
degree of stability and rigidity. However, that’s not all – the environment and sustainability
benefit too: flax is CO2-neutral thanks to its constant regeneration.
It is precisely from this that a new dimension in sitting has evolved: FLAXX.
The seat shell is made from flax that has been growing for a period of one year.
Thus it is like the frame 100 % recyclable.
The manufacturing process is extremely eco-friendly." - FLAXX brochure
Read more about the FLAXX chair in its brochure
Martin Mostböck graduated from Vienna University of Technology in 1994. Since then he has worked as architect and designer in the studio of Coop Himmelb(l)au. Alongside numerous
teaching activities – including at Vienna University of Technology and MAK Vienna – Mostböck
has been received several national and international awards: Green Dot Award, Red Dot Award,
Good Design Award, the Austrian State Prize, the German State Prize for Design, and many more.
His works have been displayed in museums and collections in Europe, Asia and America –and
even as far afield as Australia. His collaboration with Intier Automotive Eybl began ten years ago
with a periodic of exchange of ideas. A presentation on the subject “Automotive Technologies
in Product Design” was followed by the initiation of a unique alliance of automotive technology
and furniture design: With a seat shell made from flax and a steel frame - FLAXX was born.
