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Split Chair by Arik Levy for TON

Designer Arik Levy uses a wood bending technology that’s over 150 years old to design his latest chair for TON. The Split chair takes that bending method and uses it on a contemporary design to give it a new shape.

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The manual process of bending goes back to 1856 when Michael Thonet began using steam for his wood bending and TON is one of the remaining factories still doing it in the Czech Republic. Merging TON’s wood bending know-how with Levy’s modern design sense, the result is a chair with manually bent split legs. The split of the legs then supports the backrest and the seat.

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As if that wasn’t enough, Levy wanted to bring something else to the new chair besides the shape. This led to the design’s gradient color.

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Not only is each chair handmade, the gradient paint is sprayed on by a skilled craftsman.

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The entire Split collection will be on display at this year’s Salone del Mobile at TON’s booth.

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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.