RISD Students Rethink Soft Furniture at ICFF

Poli mats by Alice McDonald and Yunzhu Wang.

Furniture majors at the Rhode Island School of Design collude with their textile-department confreres in “Patterns of Making,” an interdisciplinary exhibit at ICFF. Associate professors Lothar Windels and Brooks Hagan challenged BFA and MFA candidates to rethink the use of soft materials in furniture. Alice McDonald and Yunzhu Wang’s Poli mats mix Ultrasuede, vinyl, and foam, while nylon and lanyard cords dangle beneath acrylic in Walker Nosworthy and Siena Smith’s Warp chair. Laminated oak and felted wool form Hyunmin Kate Park and Urvi Sharma’s Chatai screen, and bent laminated walnut meets handwoven wool in Todd Anderson and Claire Harvey’s Blue Bend chair. Other seating standouts include Edward Meade and Molly Rubidge’s Margot chair in industrial nylon and polyurethane foam, Elizabeth Dimitroff and Ayushi Gupta’s Chaise Convex composed of inflated PVC and nylon mesh constrained by nickel-plated steel, and Sarah Crist and Lauren Klein’s Lawn chair, a medley of mercerized cotton, bent laminated ash, and AstroTurf.