A New Brutalist Seat from Atelier Barda’s Foraine
Minimalist lines.
For Foraine, the furniture brand offshoot of Montreal architecture firm Atelier Barda, the Chabanel chair is produced in chapters. The first, a brutalist concrete seat, was designed in 2019 for fashion platform SSENSE’s headquarters on Chabanel Street. The next iteration, in stainless steel, was released two years later. For the latest chair, launched at the end of 2022, Foraine explores a new material, a durable Italian papier mâché compound made from recycled paper used to restore architectural ornaments.
While the Chabanel chair’s silhouette remains the same, an L-shaped seat on thick cylindrical legs, the contrasting textures give each edition a distinct personality. “The exploration through different materials requires rethinking the whole prototyping: its details, its assemblies,” says Antonio Di Bacco, co-founder of Atelier Barda and Foraine. The Chabanel III, available for special order in a variety of colours, is an organic counterpoint to past iterations.
Ahead, Foraine plans to emphasize recuperation, using Atelier Barda’s discarded materials to unite what the two brands have in common. “The red thread always remains the same,” Di Bacco says. “We aim to create objects that carry signs and can resonate with anyone’s memory and
experiences.”
Photography by François Olivier-Gouriou.
