India Twin Chairs

Developed in January 2016 during a residency in Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh, the India Twin Chairs represent a critical interpretation of contemporary India—a territory where deep-rooted traditions and manual crafts coexist with a powerful, surging industrialism. Created in parallel with the Delhi Lung installation, this pair of chairs serves as a "wild object" that documents the friction between globalized manufacturing and local artisanal expertise.

The design team utilized pre-drilled metal profiles, an anonymous and ubiquitous industrial material found in almost every bazaar across India. While these steel sections are a major national export and have become a practical substitute for traditional wooden structures in local furniture, they remain "origin-less" and culturally detached. By using this industrial skeleton, the studio reflects on how globally-spread materials are predatorily replacing local crafts. To counter this, the team integrated a traditional weaving technique using PVC plastic rope, a relatively new material that has been adopted by local repairers to extend the life of everyday objects.

Technically, the chairs are the result of a mesmerizing collaboration with a local blind artisan from Modinagar. His mastery of touch allowed him to "scan" the metal structures with his fingers, finding that the distance between the industrial holes mirrored the traditional proportions used in his craft. The formal language of the chairs draws directly from the studio’s observation of ancient seating in the region: a very low and wide seat designed for the traditional gathering and eating habits of the area, contrasted with an exaggeratedly high backrest that provides a "throne-like" presence.

The India Twin Chairs were eventually donated to the Floodlight Foundation to support their social initiatives, marking the project’s final stage as an act of communal contribution. Through this intervention, the studio demonstrates that design can act as a bridge between the "blind" efficiency of industrial production and the embodied knowledge of the artisan. The project stands as a testament to the studio's ability to use "bastard" materials to preserve the narrative of a specific place and its social reality.