When hosting guests, it is often necessary to find an extra chair or even a side table. Whether to allow everyone to sit around a coffee table during an aperitif, for example (sofas are not large enough and sitting on a rug, however soft it may be, is not necessarily ideal), or to be able to set things down when the coffee table is full. This is where Vitra’s Cork Family will be very useful. No, these are not people, but designer furniture made of cork.
Introducing the Vitra Cork Family
Vitra’s Cork Family is actually a series of five designer furniture pieces with slightly different shapes. Unlike family members, these pieces are not identified by first names, but by letters. The Cork Family thus consists of Model A, Model B, Model C, Model D, and Model E. A practical, simple, and effective naming convention.
Although made of pure cork, the Cork Family models are distinguished by their robustness. For this reason, they can be used as side tables or stools (for both children and adults). Robust, certainly, but the cork provides them with a beautiful lightness, both in weight and especially in appearance, and a pleasant, soft touch, close to velvet.
Visually, the first impression you will have of these models is their resemblance to cork stoppers. In our imagination and French culture, cork is indeed strongly associated with wine bottle corks. While it possesses excellent qualities (robustness, lightness, water resistance, etc.), cork is still underutilized by designers today. And yet, through its minimalist appearance, cork allows for natural integration into all kinds of atmospheres and styles. You could easily find these Cork Family models placed near a Grand Repos armchair by Vitra or near the Mags Soft sofa by Hay.
Essential elements today, Cork Family pieces are environmentally friendly designer furniture, as they are made entirely of cork.
The Cork Family: the brainchild of Jasper Morrison
We owe this Cork Family furniture series to the contemporary English designer Jasper Morrison, born in the late 1950s. A late graduate, it was not until 1986 that he set up his studio in London. He began by working for brands such as SCP, FSB, Alessi, and Cappellini. The collaboration with Vitra has been fruitful, notably with the APC chairs, the Soft Modular Sofa, and the HAL seating range.
Along with his colleague Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison seeks to establish new design codes by providing a new, more modern definition of what good design should be. According to him, good design is characterized by the concept of “super normal”—that is, a design that is sober, useful, and responsible. In creating the Cork Family, we find his definition of super normal and good design. The various models are indeed:
- very simple, inspired by cork stoppers,
- useful because they are pieces of furniture that serve a purpose even when not in use, namely decoration,
- responsible, as the material is entirely natural.
You can, of course, find all Vitra Cork Family models in our boutiques in Nice and Cannes, as well as on our e-shop here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
