During the pandemic, things got a little weird. Picnic tables for squirrels had a moment, after all. Behind every odd phenomenon was a universal plea for joy. Sancal and Dutch design firm Raw Color answered this plea with the Link and Loop sofas: big, colorful, round, sittable versions of much smaller common shapes.
Raw Color shared photos of an early iteration, a blowup version of Link covered in textiles, with Sancal and received quick enthusiasm from Esther Cataño, managing director of the Spanish furniture manufacturer. The designers worked with Sancal to develop Link and Loop simultaneously under the working name “party”—given in anticipation of the end of the pandemic and the celebratory occasion it would be to sit on the sofas together.
The designers and Sancal found the perfect proportions to invite interaction on a human scale and paid close attention to the tactile details of Link. “Because it is such a minimal piece these details become very essential for Link’s appearance,” Raw Color’s Christoph Brach says. “There are zippers to be able to remove the textile cover if needed, like for cleaning. We decided to cover the zipper with textile. This resulted in a small part that is slightly thicker, which became a beautiful detail.”
The resulting sofa does not look like a common seating option, and it lacks the typology of a standard pouf. Yet its roundness, geometry, and color invite touch and interaction. “It allows users to playfully interact and take several positions. And visually it is a very sculptural piece to be surrounded with,” Christoph says. In its unconventional approach to seating, Link offers the freedom to enjoy the sofa however one wishes—even just as a work of art.
Its artfulness is executed in the simple geometry of the cylinder, which visually connects Link and Loop, and the unusual scale and colorfulness of the shape. Each chain link within the sofa is available in six different plain colors, the Kvadrat x Febrik Sprinkles collection, or two multitone versions—one bold and one pastel. The simplicity of the form and upfront color manifests in the Link and Loop sofas through textiles from Kvadrat that amplify their tactility.
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- Courtesy of Sancal
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- Courtesy of Sancal
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- Courtesy of Sancal
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- Courtesy of Sancal
“The way one or more persons are sitting on Link is not clearly defined by its shape. It allows users to playfully interact and take several positions,” Christoph says. Courtesy of Sancal
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- Courtesy of Sancal
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- Courtesy of Sancal
Courtesy of Sancal
