federico babina imagines iconic chairs as expressive faces in latest illustration series

chairportrait series by federico babina

In his latest series ‘CHAIRPORTRAIT’, architect and graphic designer Federico Babina imagines 30 iconic chair designs as expressive faces. Depending on how one chooses to observe the images, they can rationally interpret the illustration and recognize a chair, or leave their mind free to search for an intuitive and open association to discover a face. Babina ultimately transforms the famous seats into characters with personalities that live, speak and breathe in a parallel universe.

all images courtesy of Federico Babina

chairs or faces?

‘Fantasy is a superpower that everyone possesses, but that many do not know they have.’ Federico Babina says. ‘With fantasy, things have changing colors and objects come to life taking extraordinary appearance.’ Putting his imagination to work, the Italian illustrator looked at various chair designs of the past, recognizing the profile of faces in their iconic designs — an effective creativity exercise that can help develop an ‘elastic mind’.

The 30 images of ‘CHAIRPORTRAIT’ can be seen as familiar chair designs or faces with personality and expressiveness. ‘I like to think of these chairs that inhabit our homes as active, yet silent spectators of our lives,’ the artist shares. 

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project info:

name: CHAIRPORTRAIT
designer: Federico Babina