A Floating Shell Edit
A Cosy and Effective Design

Brazil is not only carnival. It has a highly developed group of furniture manufacturers and as consequence creative designers.
This is not a design, however, that is in production, not yet anyway. It is the result of the Graduation Project of Letícia Barros, a student at the Universidade Estadual de Minas Gerais in Brazil.

Cleverly Letícia allies the versatility of plastic with the special features of the fibre of the piaçava. The piçava or piaçaba, officially known as the Attalea funifera Martius, is a palm tree, a native specie in the south of Bahia/Brazil. The popular name piaçava is of origin Tupi (an Indian language) and translates as a “fibrous plant”. The Indians knew how to use the fibres and made many a household utensil from it. The first European colonist used the fibres to assemble ropes to secure their vessels. The ropes made from piaçava were seen as more trustworthy than the ones they had from Europe.
Producer of long fibres, resistant, rigid, smooth, with an impervious texture and high flexibility, the palm tree grows well in low fertile soil, they just need a hot and humid climate.

The construction of the chair is made from piaçava, while the seat itself is from plastic. The interaction between the plastic and the natural fibres of the piaçava creates a mixture of modern and rustic design, perfectly fitting in almost any interior. A cosy place to relax.
The chair has a special feature as it is floating in water. Floating while reading a book or just burning in the sun. Don’t worry the fibre is waterproof.