MOKOMOKO SOFA by TORAFU ARCHITECTS

MOKOMOKO SOFA | TORAFU ARCHITECTS | photography : Yosuke Tatsumi/healthy

DESIGN NOTE

The concept of upcycling offcuts of polyethylene foam
A sofa that is easy to assemble and disassemble

TORAFU ARCHITECTS has designed Mokomoko Sofa based on an upcycling concept with using offcut materials.

TORAFU ARCHITECTS has designed Mokomoko Sofa based on an upcycling concept with using offcut materials. They exhibited 3 colour sofas.

A detail of Mokomoko sofa designed by Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro from TORAFU ARCHITECTS.

TORAFU ARCHITECTS has exhibited Mokomoko Sofa in IFFT 2019.

TORAFU ARCHITECTS has exhibited Mokomoko Sofa in ‘What is upcycling?’ exhibition, IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2019.

photography : Yosuke Tatsumi/healthy

words : Reiji Yamakura/IDREIT

JP

Tokyo-based design studio Torafu Architects has designed a sofa using offcuts of polyethylene foam based on the upcycling concept. The unique sofa was featured at the special showcase named 'What is upcycling?' in IFFT/Life Style Living 2019.

When we asked Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro about the story behind the development, they replied “For this sofa, we used scraps of material for swimming kickboard. We had been involved in material development for the manufacturer of this foam for several years. In the past, when we visited their factory, we found the cut edges of a bunch of offcuts to be very beautiful. We designed this sofa based on the idea of bringing the beauty of the edges we saw there.”

Regarding assembly, they also explained “The offcuts of polyethylene foam are cut to the height of the seat and fixed with a band without using glue. It takes some skill to assemble, but it is easy to assemble and disassemble, pack in a box, and ship. If the size is too large for the room, it can be divided into multiple sofas with additional binding bands.”

The Mokomoko sofa was first made for the event 'Welcome to Picture Book Museum 2019' held at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum for which Torafu Architects designed the venue. The name Mokomoko was inspired by the famous picture book ‘Moko Moko Moko’. Besides, the sofa was also recently installed in a cafe designed by Yusuke Seki Studio.