Design of the Day: The Soren Chair
The 2011 Room & Board catalog arrived the other day, and since then we’ve developed a small obsession. We just can’t stop looking at this chair:
Called Soren, the piece was inspired by a vintage chair seen in the window of an antiques shop. We can’t help but wonder what chair it was.
Was the timeless design inspired by the work of Søren Holst, who believed that visual longevity is the most important feature of any piece of furniture, and who incorporated similar, distinctive angles into his Shaker Chair and Stol? 
“Stol” by Søren Holst 
“Shaker Chair” by Søren Holst
The Soren chair’s mix of contemporary and tradition also reminds us a bit of architect and designer George Nakashima’s Straight-Backed Chair. Nakashima described himself as “Japanese Shaker” to express his belief that his designs should be treated as everyday functional objects and not precious possessions, and to convey his dedication to common crafts like traditional Japanese joinery and the use of natural materials. With his Straight-Backed Chair, Nakashima was able to maintain beautiful sculptural lines and fine craftsmanship, even at the mass-production level.
“Straight-Backed Chair” by George Nakashima
It seems that Room & Board’s aim is similar. Handcrafted in Vermont, Soren’s steam-bent solid wood construction was achieved by the same technique used to build Viking ships; we imagine the one-piece arm and back wraps around the body quite comfortably.
Soren is available in cherry, maple, walnut and ebony. We imagine pairing it with everything from metal to glass to wood. Priced at $399 for maple, cherry and ebony, and $449 for walnut.
To learn more or to order (lucky you!), visit www.roomandboard.com.
