Circle Sofa by Walter Knoll

Circle Sofa by Walter Knoll
Made be Walter Knoll AG & Co. KG
Herrenberg, Germany

The Circle Sofa received the Red Dot Design Award, Best of the Best. The circle is a simple, elemental shape, and one instinctively attributes it with particular characteristics. It symbolises closed-ness and a feeling of security. Due to its geometric consistency, the circle moreover can provide reliable orientation within a room. Naturally we feel, so to speak, that a circle is round and that it strives again and again to complete its own form. The design of the Circle seating furniture plays with this fundamental shape of the circle and creates surprisingly new configurations by segmenting. The Circle sofa unit is made up of four parts, two of which make up a semicircle; all of which together create a round sculpture. The outline and contour looks highly sculptural and vigorous - and it is left open how one arranges these sofas in a room. Due to the "segmentation" of the circle, the sofas facilitate a great diversity of options and multifunctional solutions as well as interesting sculptural forms and lines. Due to this kind of design, the sofa also challenges the notion of seating itself: persons sitting on the sofa are virtually called upon to find their own position within these circular formations. While the slope of the back facilitates sitting in a comfortable upright position towards the ends, the middle part allows for leaning back in relaxation. Event though the contour may deceive one's perception: the height of the back seat remains constant. Moreover, interesting spatial seating formations can be created. Thus, a closed space consisting of four Circle sofa parts can be opened up for walking around. This arrangement creates its own space, allowing for seating in the inner circle. In the reverse case, there is also the possibility of sitting in the outer circle. The combination of convex and concave shapes results in flowing sculptures in the room.

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