Gold Furniture Design · 2021
Memoria Chair
- A' Design Award 2021 Gold Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: ESNE - University School of Design, Innovation and Technology
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 53,811
- Verification code D7D3FEFC7D · Verify this award
About Memoria Chair
Memoria is a chair made from concrete canvas, a textile that is normally used in civil construction for its durability and resistance. The chair is shaped over a mold that is three-dimensionally printed in recyclable PLA. The concrete canvas is applied to the mold and left to set for at least 24 hours. An epoxy resin is then added to fill the pores and increase solidity. Memoria measures 1100 by 900 by 708 millimeters and is impact resistant and waterproof. The design combines sustainability, function and new sensory experiences.
Memoria Chair by Sergio Sesmero emerges from the contemporary tradition of sculptural furniture that dissolves boundaries between functional object and artistic statement, positioning itself within a lineage that encompasses the organic expressionism of mid-century masters and the material experimentation of contemporary craft-based design practice. The work demonstrates remarkable formal achievement in its seamless integration of structural logic and biomorphic poetry, each curve and hollow serving both ergonomic purpose and aesthetic resonance. The chair's silhouette suggests geological formations shaped by millennia of natural forces—wind-carved stone, water-smoothed cave openings, the architectural ingenuity of organic growth patterns—while its textured surface evokes the honest materiality of cast concrete or worked stone, celebrating rather than concealing the evidence of making. This presentation, featuring a contemplative seated figure against an immersive backdrop of translucent material, elevates the documentation beyond mere product photography into the realm of visual meditation on the relationship between human body and designed object. The chromatic restraint of the composition—warm earth tones against cool atmospheric whites—allows the sculptural complexity of the form to command attention while the diffused lighting creates an almost sacred, chapel-like ambiance that invites prolonged contemplation. Sesmero appears to engage with fundamental questions about furniture as shelter, as embrace, as extension of human presence in space; the chair's curved apertures suggest both protective enclosure and openness, a paradox resolved through the organic logic of the form. The work may reference primordial dwelling spaces, the first shelters carved from earth and stone, while speaking to contemporary desires for authentic material presence in an increasingly dematerialized world. Viewers might consider how this object transforms the simple act of sitting into an experience of being held, of returning to fundamental relationships between body, material, and space.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Memoria is a groundbreaking furniture proposal based on sustainability, functionality and the creation of new sensorial experiences, by the usage of concrete fabric as the main manufacturing element. A very unusual material in furniture and generally used in civil constructions due to its high durability, resistance and sustainability. The project arises from a deep study of the changes taking place in society, and how these are affecting the forms of consumption in the youngest consumers.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions: 1100mm x 900 mm x 708 mm. Material: Concrete Canvas Textile. Technical properties: Impact resistant, Waterproof, Stable Design.
- Tags
- Furniture, design, concrete canvas, concrete, sustainability, space.
- Production Technology
- It is created from the manufacture of a 3d printed PLA (totally recyclable and reusable) mold with shapes that serve as a guide. Concrete Canvas is applied to this mold, which we leave to set for at leat 24 hours. After its setting we can observe its hardness and resistence, but to make it even more consolidated, we apply an epoxy resin that filters between the pores of the material and cement, increasing its solidity and durability to more that 50 years of life.
- Design Challenge
- The design process of the Memoria chair finds its difficulty mainly in the creation of the concept. Also noteworthy is the process of selecting and acquiring the most suitable material to carry out the concept. Finally, some difficulties arise in the handling of the material, since the was not enough to make a large number of prototypes, this situation was solved by sending a sample of the Concrete Canvas to a geological materials analysis laboratory, whose results gave multiple solutions and proposals to help with its manipulation.
- Project Duration
- The project, started in Madrid, Spain, in September 2019 and finished in September 2020 in Madrid, Spain.
- Operation Flow
- By creating an aura that evokes mystery, questionability and reflection on the object beyond its pure functionality, Memoria plays with the senses, confusing at first the user and, in turn, showing different interpretations, narratives and stories depending on the circumstance and context of the user. Memoria responds questions, but generates new ones, creating a dialogue between opposites that are in a common point, expressing a simile of what happens nowadays and in today's society.
- Research
- The project arises from the study of the changes taking place in society, and their effects. These changes have an important influence on design, fulfilling objectives of sustainability, experience, interaction and identity. There were also analyzed the trends occurring in the furniture sector; a market that is in full swing and increasingly preparing to expand its borders to new markets. Memoria combines all these characteristics through innovative design, quality production and marketing.
- Inspiration
- It is aesthetically based on a maximalist or brutalist trend, but at the same time with a formal essence of a minimalist concept, Sergio Sesmero's furniture proposal contains an intellectual and cultural narrative, inspired by the Hegelian dialectic applied in Magritte's work. Thereby, a dialogue between revelation and concealment is created, all with the aim for the object to overcome its aesthetic, and creating a new one as a conclusion.
- Image Credits
- Sergio Sesmero
Colors of Memoria Chair
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