benjamin hubert's juliet wins poltrona frau centenary armchair competition

‘juliet’ by benjamin hubert is the winning design of italian furniture company poltrona frau‘s international competition whose brief asked participants to utilize traditional upholstery techniques under the theme ‘a chair to spend time in’.

to celebrate poltrona frau’s centenary, the brand selected twelve promising young creatives from across the globe including nendo, stephen burks, nina zupanc, constance guisset and daphna laurens, to compete in the challenge of designing the company’s ‘centenary chair’. the entries were judged under the categories of formal appearance, representation of the given theme, use and interpretation of leather and comfort.

benjamin hubert’s juliet wins poltrona frau centenary armchair competition

hubert’s winning piece is influenced by the italian renaissance fashion detail of the ‘juliet sleeve’ which tightly fits the arm and has a large deconstructed ‘puff’ on the shoulder. with ‘juliet’, the british designer wanted to communicate the properties of leather upholstery. the outside of the chair utilizes the flexibility and tensile strength of leather to describe a fluted traditional timber framework where the shape of the timber can clearly be seen through the tight leather covering. this is contrasted by a ‘tri-pleated’ generous sitting area with a  soft and loose appearance. the deconstructed area is used to describe the comfort of the chair. the shape of the sitting
area is ‘wide screen’ allowing the user to rest in multiple positions in line with how people really use and misuse furniture.

top view

back view

detail

‘juliet’ on show during milan design week 2012
image © designboom

constructing the frame of ‘juliet’ 

upholstering the chair

prototype models

mock-ups

concept sketch

juliet sketch development

the competition’s nine judges:
livia peraldo matton – editor in chief of elle decor italy
giulio cappellini – creative director of cappellini
françois-henry pinault – chairman of ppr group
jean nouvel – architect
vanessa friedman – financial times, fashion editor
anne-sophie von clear – lifestyle le figaro, deputy director
walter de silva – head designer of the audi brand group
ratan naval tata – chairman of tata group
thomas maier – bottega veneta

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication.
see more project submissions from our readers here.

thank you benjamin for helping us publish, we’ve added a few images of our visit to the exhibition.