Inactivité by Benoit Malta

“Inactivity seems to be the disease of today,” observes Parisian designer Benoit Malta. So he credits the inspiration for Inactivité, a collection of furniture that aims to alter the sedentary nature of modern life. “Our ways of living have evolved, and our bodies are less and less active. Our living spaces are conceived with the idea of comfort. My aim was to introduce a ‘bearable discomfort’ for our wellbeing – discomfort used to put the body in motion and thus out of its chronic stationary postures.” A two-legged chair embodies this idea — much like Mono, the co-dependent chair by design student Petr Badura — designed to activate muscles in the lower legs and back and encourage an upright posture while the user fights for balance. Crafted from natural beech wood, the chair’s vacuum-formed back and seat shaped with CNC technology blend effortlessly with the remaining hand-formed components. The simple, curvilinear silhouette makes a subtle nod to the traditional domestic seat where the human body serves to complete the form. “The chair proposes another way to sit…it allows you to use the body as a component.” Malta’s use of natural materials in a spare, organic form calls for a heightened awareness of human nature in an increasingly structured world.