Barberini & Gunnell’s Sculptural Golem Chaise Channels Jewish Mystical Origins

A mysterious ancient creature with Jewish mystical origins might not seem an obvious inspiration for a new seating design. But Golem by Francesco Barberini and Nina Alexandra Gunnell spins the intriguing idea of a mute, humanlike clay figure into a marvelous sculptural chaise. Welded-together spheres of mirror-polished stainless steel (a favorite material of the designers) are stand-ins for lumps of clay. Strategically flattened sides form a gentle body-cradling contour, 79 by 42 inches. “Similar to the legend, our Golem also got out of control, freeing millions of reflections,” the designers note. Available in a signed and numbered limited edition.