Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu by Niko Kapa is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award Hao in Hoʻolālā Lako Hale Competition Category.

HaoLako Hale· 2025

Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu

by Niko Kapa

Client: Snk

A' Design Award Hao Winner in Lako Hale Category

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Verified Award Winner

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The Design

About Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu

Me ka kumu o ka hoʻopaʻa mea kūkulu a me ka maʻemaʻe o ka helehelena, kū ka maikaʻi o ka hoʻolālā ma luna o nā pepehi kiōmeterika a me nā laina e hoʻohui ai i nā hapa ʻokoʻa āpau no ka hana. Hāʻawi ka hoʻolālā i ka hiki i ka noho ke neʻe i waena o nā kūlana ʻokoʻa a pane i nā manaʻo a me nā pono o ka mea hoʻohana, no ka mea hiki ke hoʻololi ʻia ma ka huli wale nō. ʻAʻohe mea me ka ʻole o ka kumu a hui pū nā mea kaʻawale e hana i kahi kūkulu māmā akā paʻakikī nui loa.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award Hao

Ua lanakila ka hoʻolālā Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu i ka A' Design Award Hao, he ʻike hoʻohanohano i hāʻawi ʻia i nā hoʻolālā maikaʻi e hoʻokō ana i nā koi ʻoihana a ʻoihana hana i manaʻo ʻia mai nā mea hoʻokumu i hana maikaʻi ʻia. Hōʻike nā lanakila Hao i ka mākau nui, ka loea kiʻekiʻe, ka ʻike akamai a me ka hiki hana noʻeau o ka poʻe i hana iā lākou. Manaʻo ʻia ʻo ka hoʻolālā Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu he mea hoʻokumu i mahalo nui ʻia, hoʻohiwahiwa ʻia a aloha ʻia e pono a hou. ʻO kēia hoʻolālā i lanakila i ka A' Design Award Hao e hoʻohui ana i nā hana maikaʻi loa o ka ʻoihana a loaʻa nā ʻano ʻenehana mākaukau i hui pū ʻia me ka ʻike hana a me ka makakoho. Mahalo ʻia ka hoʻolālā Flip Noho Hoʻoliliu no kona nānā pono a ua hoʻolālā ʻia e hāʻawi i nā hoʻomaikaʻi ola e kōkua ai i ka hana ʻana i ka honua i wahi maikaʻi aku.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Flexibility and transformation are the fundamental ideas behind this design. The design allows the chair to migrate between different settings and respond to moods and needs of the user, since it can be transformed just by flipping it. This results to different seating postures and designs as per the needs of the user. Besides the alteration, this gives the product a visual consolidation, emphasizing the reduction of materials and unification of forms.
Dimensions & Packaging: Structural stability is attained by the overlapping plywood strips that curve into one another and are glued on connection points. These provide the necessary flexibility that thin layers of plywood offer as a construction material, together with the cushions attached to them. Plywood sheets are spray painted and varnished on all sides. Besides the natural beech wood finish, they come in black and white colored types.
Tags: Transformable, flexible, fluid, plywood, sustainable
Production Technology: The manufacturing process used for the plywood is steam bending which is a low energy, low waste process using no toxic glues, just water. The process of steaming the wood also seasons it at the same as it is bent, using a fraction of the energy required in conventional kiln drying. Having in mind always the use of low environmental impact solutions, plywood is used with low VOC finishes and Bio Shield natural oil finishes, in order to reveal the textural qualities of wood construction.
Design Challenge: With the fluidity of seat and the linearity if strips, the design is suggestive of plant growth. In this way it expresses the spirit of the material it is made of and reveals the textural qualities of wood construction. With an intentionally clear and simple form for this furniture, adaptation to the product philosophy of Dorma Design was taken into account, in order to make this chair complementary of company’s group of furniture and suitable for mass production.
Research: The research focused on how the curve segments can be combined together taking into account physically satisfying posture as well as ergonomics. Full scale mockups were produced in order to check the weight and functionality of the furniture prior to fabrication. Cushions were tested in order to act as an extension of the main framing, having as a basic principle the minimum use of material and minimum number of construction elements.
Inspiration: When you bend a strip of plywood you get an elastic curve. What geometry does this curve follow? The interest in line and movement is expressed through a refined vocabulary, derived from the functional aspects of the design. The main structural elements are strips of plywood that fold in a specific and supplementary manner, in line with proportions of the human body so as to establish the dimensions of the chair.
Operation Flow: Exploring the value of wooden manufacture and the flexible nature of wood as a construction material, the Flip Flop chair is constructed of a series of plywood elements. Fluid linear forms establish a visual rhythm through the graphic lines of the design. This analytical construction logic with curves and crisp lines defines a characteristic profile with a light and elegant effect.
Image Credits: Studio Niko Kapa