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Bonsai: Seating Inspired by Japanese Culture

Reflecting on Japanese culture and aesthetics, Swedish design firm Claesson Koivisto Rune created an upholstered seating collection for Italian furniture manufacturer Arflex. Bonsai’s soft, curvy shapes reference the rounded bushes and shrubs you’d find in Japanese gardens that are meticulously manicured into their cloud-like forms.

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Low, rectilinear wooden bases support the round, upholstered tops, much like tokonoma, which is the Japanese practice of displaying favorite items, like a bonsai tree, on top of horizontal surfaces to create a display. Bonsai comes as a sofa and and pouf.

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Bonsai is available with the optional integrated lamp with a draped, flowing fabric shade and a recessed stone plate.

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Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.