Gold Furniture Design · 2021
The Doberman Chair Armchair
by Lianghao Zha
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Zha Lianghao Design
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 47,361
- Verification code BF3B9C6034 · Verify this award
About The Doberman Chair Armchair
The design inspiration comes from Doberman dog. The designer chose the mahogany as material due to the similar color to the real Doberman dog. Moreover, The Doberman Chair has a suspended backrest and a long seat size, both covered with black leather. The design is to give people a quiet and comfortable place to relax and work. Like the Doberman dog, The Doberman Chair shows its unique dignity and peace.
Emerging from the fertile intersection of biomorphic modernism and zoomorphic conceptualization, Zha Lianghao's The Doberman Chair Armchair represents a distinguished achievement in contemporary furniture design that transforms functional seating into sculptural statement. The work demonstrates remarkable sensitivity to material properties, orchestrating a dialogue between the supple yielding quality of premium black leather and the structural integrity of warm-toned hardwood in a manner that elevates both substances to their fullest expressive potential. The continuous sweep of the back and armrest assembly, executed as a single unified element, reveals sophisticated understanding of both ergonomic support and formal elegance, wrapping the sitter in a protective embrace while projecting outward with confident assertiveness. Technical accomplishment manifests in the precision of the leather work, where careful stitching follows the complex three-dimensional curves without puckering or tension, and in the refined shaping of the wooden legs, whose tapered profiles and splayed angles achieve both visual lightness and structural soundness. The zoomorphic reference embedded in the title invites contemplation of the correspondences between form and concept, as the alert posture, muscular curves, and noble bearing of the design evoke qualities associated with its canine namesake without resorting to literal representation. This abstracted translation of animal essence into furniture form positions the work within longstanding traditions of design inspiration drawn from natural forms, from Art Nouveau organic motifs through Scandinavian biomorphism to contemporary biomimetic practice. The interplay of protection and openness, strength and elegance, functionality and artistry invites viewers to consider how objects of daily use might transcend utility to participate in broader conversations about beauty, craft, and the expressive potential of designed form.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The design inspiration comes from a kind of Germany dog called Doberman. So the chair name after it as The Doberman Chair. And the side view of the chair is designed based on the golden ratio. The Doberman Chair has a suspended backrest and a long seat size, both covered with black leather.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- W: 23.2 in. H: 30 in. L: 25.2 in.
- Tags
- armchair, wood, seating, leather, mahogany, contemporary, timeless
- Production Technology
- mahogany wood, black leather
- Design Challenge
- The most difficult part of the design was to convert the design into the actual product. The chair in the scene must be comfortable enough to match the comfortable environment.
- Project Duration
- The project started in January 2015 and finished by the end of July 2015 in Shanghai.
- Operation Flow
- The Doberman Chair is a low armchair that is designed as a seat. You can use the chair like any other chair.
- Research
- The design is to give people a quiet and comfortable place to relax and work. In order to design a chair for the third space, not only the café or the rest room, but also home and workplace. I designed a leisure chair, which has a suitable seat height for people to work beside their desk. Moreover, as to express the comfortable feeling, I used wood to make this chair.
- Inspiration
- The Doberman Chair is invites you to sit back and relax. The Doberman Chair has many details and the use of high quality materials: black leather and solid wood guarantee a contemporary and timeless design. Also, the designer chose the mahogany as material due to the similar color to the real Doberman dog.