A Gallery Creative and Unusual Sofa Designs

Most of us are used to seeing fine art in a museum. Whether you’re visiting your local art museum or gallery or traveling to the famed Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York, you can enjoy visionary works by some of the most innovative artists in the world.

But don’t think fine artistry begins and ends with paintings and sculptures. Far from it. Artists and designers have begun to use furnishings as their canvas and the sky is the limit when it comes to the wonders of the modern art world.

From a sofa crafted entirely from egg cartons (complete with the eggs) to the trunk of an Aston Martin DB6, bold designs in the sofa world have begun to redefine the very idea of what sofas are.

While couches and lounges have been around since ancient Egypt, the traditional sofa was developed somewhere around the end of the 16^thcentury. Although variations have been made to the basic theme, all have been based on a common design standard that was blocky and square – largely precipitated by the limitations of the materials used – wood, fabric and padding.

But with modern design techniques and materials, square is, well, a bit square these days. In its place are new ideas, new shapes and new concepts that are blurring the lines between what is art and what is a modern sofa.

One only has to look at the designs of artist Nina Saunders to see how blurred the lines are becoming. She has morphed them into new shapes, including her “Ever Onwards” which looks as if the classic nailed leather has been stretched along two different planes, as if it were designed for Willie Wonka’s home.

Far more functional is a concept from a student at Bucks New University in the United Kingdom. It looks like a blue scrub brush resting on its back. The blue bristles are designed to cradle you while giving you a bit of a massage at the same time. If you don’t mind a large scrub brush in your living space, it looks like an amazingly comfortable piece of furniture that doubles as art.

Another favorite has to be the flying carpet sofa from Tonio de Roover. Straight out of Arabian Nights, the “East Meets West” as it is officially called seems to want to fly right off of its frame and into the moonlit eve on untold adventures. The simplicity of its shape and innovative use of materials makes light and airy in appearance, but is still comfortable and functional.

Of course, these are just the tip of the iceberg of new designs that challenge the age-old concept of what is art and what is a sofa. Some of the creative designs border on brilliance and are helping redefine the concept of what a sofa is, while others, such as the stuffed animal sofa or the wall-climbing sofa by Lila Jang, seem to border on the absurd or artistic extremism. Either way, custom and unusual sofas show us the playful side of life where things aren’t always what they seem. And that is a very good thing!