Bronze Furniture Design · 2026
Soli Chair
by João Demele
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Furniture Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Morada Decor
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 7,067
- Verification code 8F54163EC7 · Verify this award
About Soli Chair
Soli is a chair designed for everyday seating. The design balances ergonomics, visual lightness and structural precision. The solid wood structure is made from responsibly sourced reforested Jequitiba wood, with smooth and continuous transitions between legs, seat and backrest. The curved backrest is upholstered in leather and guides posture without any adjustment mechanism. Anatomical curves and high performance foam provide comfort. Industrial machining ensures precision, while controlled manual finishing preserves material integrity and durability.
MORADA DECOR's achievement in the Soli Chair represents a compelling synthesis of historical furniture traditions and contemporary material sensibilities, positioning this seating design within ongoing conversations about organic modernism, sculptural functionality, and the expressive potential of material contrast that have animated furniture design discourse since the mid-twentieth-century Scandinavian masters demonstrated how craft-based approaches could achieve industrial-age relevance without sacrificing warmth or tactile appeal. The compositional intelligence evident in this work manifests through carefully calibrated proportional relationships: the seat height appears optimized for relaxed lounging rather than upright dining, while the backrest's dramatic scrolled terminus provides both lumbar support and visual punctuation, transforming a functional necessity into the design's signature gesture and primary identifying feature. The chromatic sophistication demonstrates restraint and confidence, limiting the palette to essentially two material voices—the cool deep charcoal of premium upholstery and the warm amber-chestnut of carefully selected hardwood—allowing each material to speak clearly without chromatic interference, a strategy recalling the material honesty championed by Scandinavian and Japanese design philosophies that privilege authentic expression over applied decoration. Technical execution reveals accomplished craftsmanship across multiple disciplines: the upholstery work demonstrates skilled pattern-making and hand-finishing, evident in the organic creasing patterns that suggest supple leather stretched across compound curves, while the wooden frame elements exhibit precision turning, tapering, and joinery, the legs splaying at angles suggesting both structural logic and visual dynamism, their smooth surfaces and subtle figuring indicating careful lumber selection and finishing. The design's most arresting formal achievement lies in the backrest element, where a sweeping scroll breaks the horizontal emphasis established by seat and base, introducing baroque sensibility into modernist restraint, this singular gesture evoking historical precedents from French fauteuils to Viennese coffeehouse seating while remaining unmistakably contemporary through its isolation, scale, and integration with the overall volumetric conception. Thematically, the work appears to explore territory between sculpture and utility, between historical reference and contemporary innovation, between organic gesture and geometric clarity, inviting contemplation of how functional objects might achieve aesthetic significance through formal intelligence and material eloquence rather than applied ornament or surface treatment. The design suggests affinities with mid-century organic modernism, particularly the work of Scandinavian designers who demonstrated how traditional craft techniques and natural materials could generate forms of enduring relevance, while the restraint and formal clarity also evoke contemporary minimalist sensibilities that privilege essential gesture over decorative elaboration. One might observe how the scrolled backrest functions iconographically as both historical quotation and contemporary signature, simultaneously evoking centuries of furniture history and declaring individual design identity, this dual resonance enriching the object's cultural depth beyond mere functional provision. The viewer encounters an object that rewards sustained looking, revealing subtleties of proportion, curve, material transition, and volumetric relationship that emerge only through patient observation, the design's sophistication residing not in immediate visual impact but in accumulated formal intelligence and craft refinement that suggest careful development and thoughtful resolution of complex three-dimensional challenges.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The chair explores the balance between ergonomics visual lightness and structural precision resulting in a contemporary piece with sculptural presence. Its solid wood structure features smooth and continuous transitions between legs seat and backrest highlighting craftsmanship and technical mastery. The curved leather upholstered backrest gently supports the body while precise stitching and hand finishing reinforce material integrity and the uniqueness of each piece.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Width: 560 mm x Depth: 600 mm x Height: 840 mm. Height Seat: 460 mm.
- Tags
- Wooden chair, Sustainable design, Ergonomic chair, Contemporary furniture, Organic curves, Eco-friendly materials, Brazilian Furniture, Brazilian Culture.
- Production Technology
- The chair production is guided by sustainability and industrial efficiency. It uses responsibly sourced reforested Jequitiba wood and components designed to reduce waste throughout manufacturing. The seat incorporates curves that adapt to human anatomy combined with high performance foam for comfort and support. Industrial machining ensures precision and repeatability while controlled manual finishing preserves material integrity and durability.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge was balancing ergonomics and form. Developing a continuous curved backrest capable of adapting to different bodies required extensive research, testing, and fine adjustments. Manufacturing the wooden structure demanded high technical precision to achieve organic forms and smooth transitions without compromising structural strength. Integrating wood and leather also required careful detailing to ensure durability, comfort, and consistent aesthetic quality in potential scaled production.
- Project Duration
- The Soli chair was developed through close collaboration between designer and manufacturer with the objective of creating a chair that intuitively adapts to the human body. Completed in 2025 the project followed a rigorous development process with multiple prototypes ergonomic adjustments and formal refinements. The result is a contemporary chair that balances comfort aesthetic identity and production feasibility reflecting research collaboration and care in its creation.
- Operation Flow
- The chair works as a single, continuous gesture. The seat supports the body, while the curved backrest approaches like an embrace, intuitively guiding posture. There are no adjustments or mechanisms: comfort comes directly from the form itself, which naturally adapts to different body types. The wooden structure sustains this movement with lightness and stability, transforming the act of sitting into a natural, welcoming, and efficient everyday experience.
- Research
- This design project was developed through research into sustainable materials applied to contemporary furniture, combined with an understanding of function as an adaptive element responsive to different bodies and contexts. The design process integrated hand sketching, 3D modeling, and full-scale prototyping to refine form, structure, and ergonomics, particularly the backrest curvature. The combination of wood and leather references Brazilian modern furniture, positioning craftsmanship as the conceptual core of the object.
- Inspiration
- The Soli chair inspire by a synthesis of form, identity, and materiality. Its design is structured as a continuous gesture, in which seat and backrest are unified through a single curve. Each curvature is carefully dimensioned to accommodate diverse body types, reflecting the plurality of Brazilian culture. Inspired by traditional wooden furniture and natural elements such as branches and animal horns, the combination of wood and leather emphasizes material honesty, lightness, stability, and tactile comfort, enhancing the users sensorial experience.
- Image Credits
- Images developed by designer João Demele.
- Patents
- Unspecified