(IM)MATERIAL EXPERIENCES
Sensory, mental, emotional: feeling is his driving force, guiding the design.
The boundary between the tangible and intangible fades — and re-appears. Tranquillity! Your own space within the wider space. A haven. Psychological boundaries actually free you, broadening your horizons. A creative voyage of discovery to this fresh perception of design: this feel-good experience.
Sam Claessen Pollaris doesn’t allow anyone or anything to hold him back. Labels such as ADHD, dyslexia, and so on? His neuro-divergent mind serves as a stimulus for his designs. How do you create peace in your environment, in your head? How do you achieve the state of physical, emotional and mental wellbeing? This is what Sam is aiming to do with the Container series: the Loop chaise longue and chair, both enhanced by the Container lamp.
The Container series is based on the concept of containment in psychology: the comforting experience from your childhood, that safe and soothing feeling. It will be OK, it is OK. This immaterial idea is materialised in the design concept.
The Loop chair is the most abstract object in the series: apparently abstract and minimalist, but surprisingly comfortable. It is inspired by Sam Chermayeff’s humorous approach to design, in which functionality and feeling playfully challenge one another.
The Loop recliner is based on Charlotte Perriand’s research for the LC4, into ergonomic and relaxed reclining positions. The conclusion: elastic bands and a floating tubular frame, that’s it! Your body sinks into the elastic tensioning, you feel embraced, safe, cherished. You sway with the movements of your body, you float above the ground, a hint of letting go, taking a distance from ‘the world’. This is your feel-good moment: rest!
The Container lamp enhances the experience. When you place it beside the Loop chair, it draws concentric circles on the floor, a black circle (shadow line) in a disc of light. The Container places the chair in a conical beam of light, a cloak of light in a dark space. The cone of light acts like an immaterial wall. It’s not physically present, but you do feel it. You experience the dividing line between inside here and outside there. You are secluded without being enclosed. So the lamp is not a separate object, but a connecting element that activates every piece in the series.
The light that falls on your cheeks like a caress. The concentric circles in the frame, with the light and shadow. This precision is a question of hands-on-design, of trial and error. Experiencing and feeling the pieces yourself: physically, sensorially, emotionally and mentally. These are the anchor points for the design process. The result, the Container x Loop combi, is something you simply must experience.
