Pillow Computer by Schimmel & Schweikle for alfa.brussels - 2019

Pillow computer (prototype) developed at alfa.brussels. Schimmel & Schweikle is an ongoing collaboration between Janne Schimmel and Moreno Schweikle. Their work revolves around the nexus of technology, art and culture. In that realm Schimmel & Schweikle focus on developing concepts that deal with the closing gap of the digital and physical realm.

In their latest ´CrossFit ´ collection they use 3d modeling software to unite opposite forms of expression into non confirmatory objects. The strict lines of the modern-style furniture that the pieces are based on is emphasized by a shiny, lacquer-like finish achieved by coating the pieces in car paint, while the blob-like upholstery additions are finished in a soft artificial fur.

Each piece is the result of a digital modelling experiment, which the designers have translated into a real object. The two chairs in Schimmel & Schweikle’s CrossFit series combine archetypal, Minimalist furniture designs with organic shapes, “morphing” them together to create new forms. Resulting in a dualistic form of expression that challenges the need for an uncontaminated narrative.The third piece in the collection features a standard desktop computer combined with green, fur pillows, and is intended to sit on the floor of a living room. The way the computer has become so intertwined with our lives cannot be ignored. That’s why the ´CrossFit Computer ´ pulls itself from the dark desk corners where it usually lives and gives itself the more prominent role it deserves in our households. In a way it is a token to the design mythology of the designers who always aims to investigate the role the digital world plays in our everyday lives.