Studio F.A. Porsche, established in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the grandson of Porsche founder and designer of the iconic 911, provides gifts to the world, in the form of a question: What would it look like if a world-class auto design firm also designed [blank]?
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche CThis “honest design” ethos has been applied to mechanical watches (Chronograph 1), saunas (KLAFS sauna S11), underwater “seabobs” (Cayago Underwater Scooter), lamps (Light-Point Light Series), airstreams (Travel Trailer Concept), and a variety of indoor furniture. Outdoor furniture? Never before — until the release of the AERO EVO line of outdoor furniture.
The collaboration with outdoor furniture brand OVIOS was inspired by the Porsche 919 supercar. But only loosely. “We took inspiration from the world of cars and performance,” says Henning Rieseler, Design Director of F.A. Porsche. “But product design that simply looks like a car is not serious. A chair is a chair, and a car is a car.”
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche COVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche C AERO EVO Limited Edition Sectional Sofa
Instead, Rieseler and a team of three F.A. Porsche product designers were inspired by the aerodynamics of the modern Porsche racer, and a new twist on rattan furniture. The H-Grid design of the set’s loveseat and two single chairs is unlike any chair design we’ve ever seen. A stainless steel skeletal system comprised of 129 components allows the impossible-looking hollow H-shaped frame, through which a breeze can flow unimpeded. (If you squint, you can certainly see the head-on silhouette of the 919 EVO, beautiful curves and all.)
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche C
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche CThe furnitures’ 8mm solid stainless steel tubes are woven through with Dura-loop material; to the eye, these look like large, beautiful ropes. To the hands (and bottom), they are surprisingly soft, creating a marriage between the hardness of steel and the beautiful comfort of a textile. “Usually, rattan furniture is made by weaving the same material in both directions,” Rieseler said. “Weaving together two very different materials was our way of exploring something entirely new in the design.”
This is where OVIOS’s outdoor furniture expertise comes in. The company, established in 2011, specializes in luxurious yet accessible outdoor furniture, and has made leaps in the world of durable yet comfortable textile materials. The furniture’s woven ropes and cushions are both marine-grade, salt-spray resistant, anti-fungal, and UV resistant to UPF 50+. And yet they look as fine as any indoor furniture textile.
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche CThe overall effect of seeing and sitting on AERO EVO furniture is that it looks both light and heavy at the same time — and, though the entire character is of stainless steel and perhaps a speeding racecar, your body experiences something plush and incredibly comfortable when you sit. The Porsche design boggles the eye — down to the tiny details, like the fine curves of the chair’s stainless steel.
It took two years of work to bring out the subtlety of Porsche design and to get the stainless steel design perfect. “One element I’m proud of is the shape of the back cushion,” Rieseler says. “Our first iteration had a larger cushion. But I realized I wanted to be able to see more of the curves of the back of the chair. Now we’ve got it just right.”
The AERO EVO is available only in a full set, with three frame colors (beige, charcoal, and brown) that can be combined with any of four cushion colors (heritage char, cast pumice, heritage rust, and canvas spa). Just 919 sets will be sold, at a price of $23,919.
OVIOS x Studio F. A. Porsche C