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Go to shop4 March 2022
The Wallpaper Design Award assigned to the lively and dreamy project by American designer Stephen Burks
The Wallpaper Design Award is an acknowledgment conferred by the magazine whose name it bears and by a panel of industry experts. A prestigious award, a mirror of the times, of taste and of the new needs and desires to which the designer must respond with ideas, creativity, novelties. Among the various categories, one has acquired a lot of importance in recent years is that relating to outdoor furniture. A growing sector as a response to a rediscovered desire to experience the outdoor space available and to furnish it with the same care reserved for the living room. But also with the intention, often, of creating an informal convivial environment in which there is no shortage of corners for relaxation to enjoy alone or in company. And this is the reason for the success of the Kida outdoor rocking chair, designed by Stephen Burks for Dedon, which wins the Wallpaper Design Award 2022 for the “Best Outdoor Living” category.
“Feel the freedom” is the presentation claim of Kida, a rocking chair that can be suspended from the ceiling or from a specific structure. Experiencing the freedom of the wind is the desire that Burks tries to achieve with this project with a strong playful profile tempered by a thick architectural accuracy. The shape, of organic inspiration, is that of a shell and the intention is clear to offer a refuge, an enveloping and reassuring space. Seat and back are the result of three circular shapes that intertwine and are crossed by a series of longitudinal elements that support the body.
In this interlocking game the design method with which the seat was conceived emerges: the first step was in fact to open a dialogue between the designer and the master weavers of the Philippines to whom Dedon entrusts his precious craftsmanship. Burks, moreover, has investigated and nurtured the relationship between the world’s artisans and design since the beginning of his creative activity and he himself has learned many weaving and interlacing techniques. This is why the dexterity of the craftsmen dear to Dedon and the visionary competence of the designer have created, together, a perfect alchemy. “The magic of being in the factory and challenging everyone to find new ways to create products with a fresh new ‘Dedon style’ is always my mission,” says Burks.
And certainly new and fresh, almost light-hearted, is the style of this seat that reinterprets in a free and courageous key, the classic rocking chair, which in the collective imagination evokes moments of domestic serenity and well-being. An attitude that Kida also brings to the outside with the intention of blending and mixing with the natural elements. The structure is in powder-coated aluminum and with a special Dedon finish that gives a soft and welcoming feeling to the touch. Enhanced by the large, single cushion for seat and back. The materials are naturally chosen for their lightness because the goal is to “fly” and let yourself go to its gentle movement.
The colors are a further detail of design accuracy. There are three options: two neutral and nature-inspired solid colors, a third more lively and easy-going, with chromatic stripes with a strong and fun personality but always very elegant. In the free-standing version, it presents a horseshoe base with a central rod to which the suspension rope is connected: a harmonious and delicate whole. Designed to furnish the outdoor space in a special way, Kida can also be brought into an interior to which you want to give an unexpected and informal profile, for example by creating an enchanting reading or conversation corner.
