A graduate of Style and design Academy Eindhoven, Lina Chi made the decision to revamp the usage of linoleum – by making a selection of curvy and quirky furnishings styles constructed from solitary sheets of linoleum. Fairly aptly named ‘Linoleum’, Chi hopes to reinvent the product and offer it with a new identification. Linoleum is a biodegradable materials, created working with a mix of biomaterials these types of as cork, wood dust, and limestone, which are additional combined with linseed oil, and then coated on a jute cloth backing.
Designer: Lina Chi
The Linoleum collection is made up of a bench, two stools, and a lower table. Linoleum is a content that has been existing for ages. It is primarily employed as flooring, whilst it can be utilized as furniture. It is a materials that is pretty widespread in areas – these kinds of as educational institutions, kitchens, and hospitals but is typically mistaken to be plastic given that they equally have a very similar visual appearance. Chi desired to rebrand linoleum and current it in a new mild. Her home furniture assortment seeks to perform as a modern-day reinterpretation of the material, one in which its aesthetics and sturdiness are brought to light.
Chi teamed up with British isles flooring company Forbo to experiment with how linoleum could be bent, curved, twisted, and played all-around with by hand. She required to develop items that were being sculptural, and pretty visually pleasing. While the content is drinking water-and-fireplace resistant, she did want to make guaranteed it was robust and durable plenty of to hold a person’s fat. To do so, she drew inspiration from the method utilised to make cardboard more robust – that is by including a corrugated layer between two sheets of paper.
Chi bent and twisted a one sheet of linoleum by hand in a heated room, transforming it into a sculptural composition with beautifully curved prospers, with out the use of any adhesives or long term bindings. “I understood that the tighter I was making the undulation of the linoleum, the much better it was acquiring, and what is appealing is the linoleum changed with the warmth of my system, but also the heat of the home,” mentioned Lina.
Chi’s furniture assortment is a rediscovery and reimagining of an incredibly acquainted product via unconventional and ground breaking approaches. She hopes to encourage other designers to also experiment and participate in around with pre-present products, and impart them with a new identification, the way she did with linoleum.
