image: Arktura’s Flow Bench
Often, eco-friendly furniture and home accessories, however sustainable, can be a bit humdrum: An ordinary-looking, banged up salvaged door turned into a coffee table; a dining chair made from responsibly harvested wood that looks like any other dining chair made from non-responsibly harvested wood; a blandly designed organic cotton pillow cover. It’s kind of the curse of green design…with greater accessibility can come the concession of vision. It’s not always the case, but it happens.
This green design conundrum does certainly not apply to the furniture produced by Arktura, a young LA-based design and manufacturing collective comprised of internationally trained architects. Arktura’s collection of show-stopping, sculptural pieces that are all manufactured with sustainability in mind. The company purchases green power credits to offset energy costs associated with the manufacturing process, uses zero-VOC paints and finishes on all pieces; uses locally-sourced materials with a high percentage of recycled content; and more. And for those looking to earn LEED certification, furnishing a home with pieces from Arktura will earn you considerable points.
Fresh from Arktura is Chris Kabatsi’s Flow Bench (image above), a curvaceous piece of functional art (available in red, white, and black) that’s made from eco-composite materials like soy-based resin, hemp, and sisal. The Flow is not for everyone – a bit more Blade Runner than Sunset Magazine – but scores high points in the originality department.
Also noteworthy is Kabatsi’s Hive Bench (image below), described as sporting an “intricate algorithmically generated cellular pattern.” We’re not sure exactly what that means, but it sure looks cool. Like the Flow Bench, the Hive (available in orange, black, white, and sea green) is more modern art object than seating arrangement. It’s made from bent steel (40 to 95 percent of it is recycled).
Although I think the Hive would clash with the (admittedly boring) furnishings in my own apartment, I’m still pretty bent on sitting in it. Just don’t ask me about the algorithmically generated cellular pattern.
LA-based Arktura produces curvaceous and audacious eco-friendly furniture for modern homes.
