Interviews
6/10/2024
Faye Toogood – a chair for life
“It is a chair for wellbeing; for life, aging, breathing, for taking time for yourself – it is a sanctuary,” says designer Faye Toogood about The Peace Chair, her outdoor pine chair for the Finnish brand Vaarnii.
As one of the most coveted designers of the moment, Faye Toogood has made a name for herself by not following the norm. The Peace Outdoor Lounge Chair and Footstool are both made from heat-treated pine and designed with solitary activities like reading and rest in mind, rather than social gatherings.
Vaarnii invited you to think about a design for the outdoors. What were your immediate thoughts?
– I had just moved to a new home with a very large garden, so large I hadn’t really gotten my head around what to do with it. Because of that, landscape – and how to reconnect with it – had been on my mind when Vaarnii got in touch. So, outdoor furniture seemed like a very good suggestion.
Peace Outdoor Lounge Chair – Faye Toogood
How was it working with pine?
I love the fact that the pine will continue to age, evolve. We’ve left room for it to change as it ages, to silver, to crack. I think this chair will be more beautiful in ten years time than it is today. This acknowledging of aging is really special, it is something that we usually turn away from. Underlining the change in the natural material is a good thing. The Peace Chair will take the battering of the weather, it doesn’t need to be covered, it’s not precious. This chair is like a piece of leather furniture. It will get better and more beautiful as it ages. It has that same quality.
Outdoor furniture that integrates with its surroundings is perhaps the most effective?
There is something really special about how things change in the garden, the passage of time, the cycle of life. It forces you to be contemplative. This is the kind of chair you could sit in and think about that and feel part of the natural world around you.
Similar articles
Designing furniture beyond mere function
Our interiors are part of our cultural landscape, says Petrus Palmér, founder of the Swedish furniture brand Hem. We speak to him about meaning, magic and design beyond mere function.
3/19/2024
In the details
With a great passion for vintage and a sharp eye for details, Studio Escapist creates interiors that feel intimate and warm.
11/27/2024
Diana Orvning
Large textile pieces hang from the ceiling in floating formations. In soft movements, they seem to be travelling somewhere in the room, away from their original position. When we meet Diana Orving, she is in a temporary studio outside Stockholm.
4/30/2020
The Queen's abruptness
Lindsey Adelman is inspired by bird swarms and mussel shells, rubbish and Guns n Roses. But for one of the lighting industry's greatest artists, she has a remarkably uncomplicated relationship with her work.
2/10/2020
Designing furniture beyond mere function
Our interiors are part of our cultural landscape, says Petrus Palmér, founder of the Swedish furniture brand Hem. We speak to him about meaning, magic and design beyond mere function.
3/19/2024
In the details
With a great passion for vintage and a sharp eye for details, Studio Escapist creates interiors that feel intimate and warm.
11/27/2024
Diana Orvning
Large textile pieces hang from the ceiling in floating formations. In soft movements, they seem to be travelling somewhere in the room, away from their original position. When we meet Diana Orving, she is in a temporary studio outside Stockholm.
4/30/2020
The Queen's abruptness
Lindsey Adelman is inspired by bird swarms and mussel shells, rubbish and Guns n Roses. But for one of the lighting industry's greatest artists, she has a remarkably uncomplicated relationship with her work.
2/10/2020