Chairs
MUTE CHAIR
The Mute chair is designed to inspire serenity and calm.
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Uninterrupted lines flow quietly around the fully ...
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Mute Chair
by Mike & Maaike
at Airbnb Office SF, CA, San Francisco, CA
Q&A
What is your favorite material to work with?
"We don't have a favorite material we work with, rather, we try to use materials in new ways or for new applications. The Daydream View VR product we designed with Google is a good example. We wanted to bring the soft materials we were using for furniture into the world of technology."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
What do you want people to do or feel when they encounter your creations?
"When people see or experience our work, we hope the concept comes through clearly and that the joy we felt when designing the piece comes through as well."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
What motivates and inspires you?
"We're inspired when we step away from the daily routine and go to a special place— the ocean, a city, an overlook, allowing us to feel recharged with creative energy to explore the unexplored."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
What makes a space special?
"A space is special when it's authentic to it's location and the people that spend time in it."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
What’s unique about your work?
"Everything we design starts with a strong concept. These conceptual foundations drive all of the design decisions that follow. We try to add as little as possible to let the concept come through in its purest form."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
How do your pieces come to life? Tell us one interesting thing about your creative process?
"Our work is a combination and reinterpretation of our diverse backgrounds. (Maaike is from a small farming town in The Netherlands, Mike is from Los Angeles.) Our process is highly creative but also very filtered - We start with an anything-goes approach asking "What if?" and "Why not?". We then place a lot of strong filters for conceptual depth, design dignity, simplicity, etc. but always leave a door open for the unexpected, the dissonant, or the provocative to come through in the final product."-- Mike & Maaike
Q&A
What funny moments, unexpected surprises, or obstacles have you encountered?
"When we started our studio, we had two rules for the first year: No clients and No income. All of our projects that year were self-initiated. With no one to please but ourselves, we created an approach that was authentic and un-compromised. Many of the projects we started that year eventually turned into successful mass-produced products, technologies, or partnerships in the years that followed. Having those rules was the best decision we've ever made."-- Mike & Maaike
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