AI helps IKEA design a modular couch that can be transported in a big envelope

Ordinary people don’t really think about thinking of new ways to innovate pieces of furniture like tables, chairs, beds, and couches. Most people probably just think of buying something that is practical, comfortable, and does what it’s supposed to do. But product designers are always out there thinking of new ways to make things like these more portable, more interesting, or basically, just better. The addition of generative artificial intelligence into the equation has helped them come up with out-of-the-box concepts that later on get turned to prototypes.

Designer: Space10 and Panter&Tourron

If you’ve ever thought the day would never come when you can pack a couch into an envelope (a big one though), then you are apparently almost wrong. With the help of AI, a Copenhagen-based design company was able to come up with a speculative design for a modular couch that can be packed into a bag and transported easily. The flat-packed furniture was soon turned into a prototype that is on display at the Copenhagen Architecture Festival. Although it will probably be some time before we actually see this available, it still brings up interesting possibilities.

When they found out the right keywords and iterations to help the image generative AI tools like MidJourney and DALL-E, they were able to start on a design for the ideal flat-pack couch. The final design output showed a bench type of couch that can fit in two people comfortably and includes adjustable wings and cushions. When you need to move or transport it, it can be flat packed and put into a tote bag that’s shaped like an envelope so no need to hire movers and be stressed with moving that couch.

They went beyond just having a design and created a prototype since AI cannot determine whether something will actually be usable, let alone comfortable. While we probably won’t be seeing this in the market anytime soon, it can start a discussion on how they can come up with products that are able to solve the pain points of the current ones in the market. Of course there is still a lot of discussion going on about AI but using it as a tool is something that designers can really explore.

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This striking couch makes a powerful statement on face masks

There was a point in very recent history when it seemed that the world had run out of single-use face masks, sometimes referred to as surgical masks. Eventually, however, supply did finally catch up to demand, and the use of such protective gear became so common that people would acquire them in bulk. Unfortunately, these masks weren’t made exactly made with regular people in mind and in situations where they would not be disposed of properly. What was a tool that helped save human lives, unfortunately, became poison to the planet, especially our already polluted waters. Although restrictions have been lifted in many places, these single-use masks are still in high demand and use, including outside the medical field, and the harm that these discarded masks pose to the environment has been demonstrated with dramatic effect in a pouf made almost completely out of this personal protective equipment.

Designer: Tobia Zambotti

Surgical masks look simple enough that most probably take for granted the materials used to make them. Most probably presume that they’re made from biodegradable material since they feel like cloth or paper, but that’s not exactly true. They are made from a certain kind of plastic, and they can’t be recycled because of their use in medical scenarios. Thus, they become dangerous pollutants, whether they’re burned by incinerators or thrown into the waters.

Given the volume of single-use masks produced and discarded on a regular basis, that can easily cause an environmental problem. What makes the situation worse is that very few people are aware of this situation, let alone of the harmful potential of these masks. What better way to call their attention, then, than by putting this number into perspective in a rather shocking manner?

That is what COUCH-19 does in a way that is both meaningful but also useful. Hundreds of used masks are collected and then sanitized using ozone before they’re entombed in a pouf made from recyclable crystal PVC. Each pouf is modular so that it can be combined with others to form a couch to one’s specifications. The poufs are shaped irregularly to give the semblance of the masks frozen in time. The iceberg-like design is intended to be a reference to global warming.

As a couch, the COUCH-19 looks both interesting but also a bit unsettling, which is part of the message. While there’s no doubt that it can function as a piece of furniture, its appearance is alien enough to give our brains pause, forcing us to face the reality that those masks convey, that of a world where we might be forced to live with the very trash that we so mindlessly throw away.

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Modular couch brings comfort, calm to waiting spaces

Modular furniture is pretty important for people who would like to add a bit of personalization to their area. It lets you choose the different kinds of designs that you’d like to have for your waiting area, living room, or public space without necessarily having to build something yourself or from scratch. Having something that can fit your needs or wants, even if it’s just furniture, is useful in creating the perfect space whether it’s for personal use or for business use.

Designer: Sander Mulder

The Hunebed is on such modular solution that can be perfect for public waiting areas like airpots, hospitals, hotels, offices, or even your own home if you have a lot of space and you do a lot of entertaining. It is a couch where the elements can be stacked and rotated according to your need and preference. The fixtures are actually “stones” that you can combine and assemble in various designs that are both aesthetic and functional.

These elements are made from “warm” wood and use a foam frame as well as steel connections. They are minimalist in design individually but when put together, they can add a bit of character to your space. There are different colors available as per their release but the renders show different shades of gray and white only. You can add the stones to pivot points and since these are rotating, you can get 360-degree freedom of motion. You can use them as armrests, back rests, or even privacy screens.

If you want the couch to be even more functional, you can also add electrification solutions like a USB charging point or a main power socket. The horizontal stones can also be used as planters so you can add a bit of green to the space, which is always calming to the eyes and to the soul. So for those using the couch as a waiting area, the Hunebed will not be uncomfortable or anxiety-inducing but rather a place to relax and even recharge (sometimes, literally).

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This minimal hanging wall art actually transforms into a modular sofa unit fit for every living room!

The Summit Sofa is a dual-purpose, modular furniture design that blends a changeable, functional couch together with a minimalist piece of artwork.

Like every worthwhile lifestyle change, downsizing to meet the demands of tiny living comes with its own set of challenges. The secret to making the most of tiny spaces comes down to finding the right furniture. Following the surge in popularity of tiny living, designers have come out with versatile and modular furniture products to make tiny living feel spacious without taking up too much space. The Summit Sofa from Mousarris, a Cyprus-based interior design company, redefines what versatile and modular furniture can look like, merging artwork and functional furniture into a single design.

Dual-purposed by design, the Summit Sofa is made up of curved cushions with integrated magnets that allow them to attach to one another to form different sofa configurations and the sofa’s main magnetic board to create a minimalist piece of wall artwork. When propped up on its magnetic base, the Summit Sofa’s sinuous cushion modules fit into one another like pieces to a puzzle. When users would like to create their own sofa, they can remove the cushions from the magnetic base and attach modules together to create countless configurations. When the modules are attached to the base, the user’s living and floor areas remain clear for plenty of space. Then, on movie nights or when guests arrive, the Summit Sofa can be detached from the magnetic base to become a sofa.

Sometimes the most practical furniture isn’t the most beautiful. Tiny living shouldn’t mean compromising your taste in interior design for functionality. With Mousarris’s Summit Sofa, you won’t have to sacrifice aesthetics just to save space. When displayed on the magnetic board, the Summit Sofa creates a minimalist display of artwork to tie any room together. Then, when used as furniture, the Summit Sofa can be configured in any arrangement to fit your room and taste.

Designer: Mousarris

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A modular lounge system designed for working from home and “homing from work”!

Soufflé is a dynamic modular interior landscape capable of endless configurations for your flexible lifestyle and different needs. The bed/couch piece works for our rapidly changing world where workplace and home environments collide. Soufflé blends our work, life, and leisure modes into a singular, highly-customizable lounge system.

It challenges the status quo of what workplace and domestic furniture needs to be, what is should look like and how we use it. Initially designed for the studio’s own office space, the creators envisioned a seating system that would suit a variety of commercial settings – be it a sophisticated hotel lobby, retail destination or workplace breakout. At home, Soufflé can be pushed together into pit mode and instantly becomes the perfect spot for movie nights, reading, or naps. Fun fact: the cozy furniture piece its name from the collective noun for clouds which was key to tying all elements together in a way that felt light, approachable, and ever-changing. The Soufflé embodies these qualities through its infinite combinations, soft foam structure and fluid design language. Due to its high degree of modularity, individual pieces can be passed onto family and friends throughout a lifetime – and without any sharp edges or hard materials, it’s 100% child friendly.

The Soufflé also grows with its user: from a bijou studio apartment in your twenties, a family home in your fifties, to a bungalow in your eighties. Whether in isolation or composed into interesting arrangements, Soufflé’s sinuous backrest offsets its rectilinear forms, catching light and casting shadows that add to its playful block module form. Gotta get Soufflé now. Pun intended!

Designer: Foolscap Studio

souffle

This couch turns into a rescue boat for natural disasters

Like pandemics, there are many other natural phenomenons that are out of human control. The frequency of these disasters has now increased due to climate change. I have only ever lived on coasts, no matter which country I was in, and being climate-conscious I know that if we don’t get aggressive with our efforts to slow it down the coastal cities will be the first to collapse under massive floods and tsunamis. Scary image isn’t it? Well, we can do two things about it – live more sustainably and design products like Afloat for our Plan B.

Since a couch is something that most homes have, designer Max Bitsan had a pumpkin-turns-into-carriage moment and gave us an angular couch that is also a lifeboat for rainy days…literally. Afloat has been envisioned to fit within the modern interior aesthetics while also being capable of helping you escape situations like floods, tsunamis, storms, dam breaks and more. Turn it upside down and you have a makeshift shelter if you are not trying to stay ‘afloat’ (too soon?). The couch’s mainframe is built like a boat and otherwise is home to bright, fluffy cushions that reassure you of the bright sunny times. Afloat also comes in an armchair size.

On a lighter note, if you live by a lake then you can take your couch out on the water and enjoy the normal times – we now know that the mundane things we enjoyed outside are truly a treasure we took for granted. A lesson learned in advance – don’t take your couch for granted, it can save lives either by you just sitting on it or by you rowing it like a boat.

Designer: Max Bitsan

Architecture legend, Bjarke Ingels, ‘pivots’ their couch towards the future of flexible living

Bjarke Ingels is a movie star of the architecture world, but he is also an artist and a trailblazing source of inspiration that goes beyond the structures he builds. A decade ago he started spreading the word on his philosophy of sustainable hedonism which bridges the gap between environmentalism and luxury – they can coexist and Ingels showcases that in his work. What sets him apart is that everything he creates has drawn inspirations from ideas, things, art and even games that are totally unrelated to what he is building but still shines through subtly. The latest example to prove this point is the Voxel sofa for a Danish brand, Common Seating, which is a harmony of elements from Minecraft (which Ingels loves!), Q*bert video games as well as the work of Modernist architect Mies van der Rohe.

The Voxel sofa is, in the simplest words, made to adapt to the environment and the user’s needs. Bjarke Ingel’s firm, BIG, looked into how they design their architectural projects like their Lego House, 79 & Park apartment block and the 2016 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion when creating the modular sofa system. The team made a grid of pixel-like blocks to form the seats and called it Voxel. The name and aesthetic of the sofa come from the word’s actual meaning which is a graphic and interface design term for ‘3D pixel’. Voxel will look and mean something unique to every individual user and space.

Voxel can be moved, repaired, flipped, added on to or reduced with ease based on its surroundings. It represents the future of modern furniture – pieces designed to serve the user with multiple functionalities with a form that fits in every room. The sofa system is built with four major parts – armrests, backrests, seats, and legs, and all of these can be interchanged and assembled in multiple ways.  The pieces connect with simple metal cylinders that slide into holes and give it its modular essence. “The grid-like system creates a family of units that can be configured into multiple seating scenarios, from single-unit couch to large configurations,” says Jakob Lange, partner at BIG. With the rapid evolution of our culture and lifestyle, Voxel has the ability to mold itself organically to any ecosystem.

The sofa’s design reduces waste by encouraging owners to exchange or repair separate parts if needed, instead of throwing the entire piece out. Voxel is made on-demand and shipped directly from the workshop to ensure it only produces what is necessary and manages waste responsibly. Voxel promotes Bjarke Ingel’s idea of flexibility and sustainable living in its own didactic message of being able to modify and adapt to where we are in the moment with our core values intact. Lang goes on to say, “If it were a person, [it] would be able to move, flex and adapt to different configurations, making it agile in any environment – at home or at work – and responsive to any individual. The person can really grow and live with this sofa long-term.”

Ingels has always viewed architecture as the art and science of making things that fit the way we want to live our lives, it is a constant evolution of ideas. I’ll leave you with this thought inspired by Bjarke Ingels – sustainability is not a moral sacrifice but a design challenge and we have the tools to design ecosystems that optimize the flow of people, resources, economies even…so why not give back with the power to create?

Designer: BIG Group