WL Design 25 Winners 2024: Furniture and Beyond

Despite its limitless-sounding title, Pablo Mariano’s Infinity chair is actually an exercise in restraint: the Argentinian-born, Vancouver-based designer aimed to create this piece using as few materials (and as little technology) as humanly possible. The designer says that making this chair took over 90 hours—he bent the steel rods and formed the cotton loops by hand.

The materials themselves are simple and easily sourced: the mild steel is coated in a transparent beeswax, so any observer can see the work put into the metal; the cotton cord can be found at your average hardware store; the birch wood dowels at the chair’s base were coloured using minimal amounts of dye. It’s a piece of furniture that proudly shares its own history. “The piece is a statement in favour of simple ideas and pure handiwork, in opposition to over-the-top technologization, gear dependence and the abuse of resources,” says the designer.

Project: ∞ chair
Designer: Pablo Mariano
Location: Vancouver