Architect Marco Lavit is no stranger to furniture design — take, for instance, the wealth of singular pieces he has completed for high-profile galleries like Milan’s Nilufar. His latest work, the Lemni chair for Living Divani, however, is an exception to this “collectibles only” rule. The designer’s first commercial product, the chair is composed of four semicircles rotated to form both the seat and the base; the resulting structure creates the lemniscate curve (or infinity sign) that gives the object its name. In addition to exhibiting a different profile from each angle, Lemni provides the comfort and casual cool of a hammock with the appeal of a timeless showpiece. Azure caught up with Lavit to learn more about how this sleek, eye-catching seat came to be.
AZURE: What was the process of designing your first commercial product like?
- Marco Lavit
I tried to do an industrial product last year [Hut, with Ethimo], but it turned out to be “small architecture.” It couldn’t fit in some showrooms because it was too big. It’s one of my favourite projects, but it came out as architecture instead. For Lemni, the brief from Living Divani was not specifically to create an armchair. They do a lot of seating, but I was just thinking about making something that could last. It’s ambitious to say “last forever,” but the idea was to design a piece that could enter the Living Divani collection and stay in the catalogue, where you wouldn’t be able to say whether it was from 2020 or 1980. That was my own personal brief.
Wood figures heavily in your architecture and interiors. Why did you stray from the material for this design?
The Lemni chair could have been wood. The thickness of the structure would be different, but the geometry would be the same. In architecture, I use wood because it’s a natural material. When you enter a space, you can feel it in the air — this comforting and cocooning atmosphere that’s achieved. With products, it’s different. We don’t live in these pieces, we just use them. It’s not the same way of relating. Our bodies react in a different way.
Which comes first for you, form or material?
I normally think about the design, then pick the material that works best. Of course, we consider how the product will be used and choose materials accordingly. I wasn’t thinking about using leather and steel for this chair. I was just thinking about playing with this form. When the design starts from a place of reflection, then it’s easier to produce something timeless.
What kind of spaces do you see Lemni occupying?
I can imagine this chair in a hotel room, facing an urban landscape or being paired with another in a living area. It’s not a chair made to disappear into a room, but it can exist quite discreetly. Maybe you’ll see it in the corner of a suite in a few years and you won’t know if it’s a vintage piece or if it just came out.
Marco Lavit’s Lemni Chair was Made to Last
How the designer crafted Living Divani’s latest contemporary yet timeless launch.