Floating Furniture Transforms For Safety To Buoy With Rising Sea Levels
By Mikelle Leow, 19 May 2023
Sometime in the future, society might actually wish it never took carpeted floors and grounded furniture for granted. A one-of-a-kind sofa and ottoman, called Bliss, imagines the day when floating furniture becomes essential for homeowners to keep afloat amid rising sea levels.
Designed by global creative company Mother, Bliss is a handcrafted, functional piece and art statement whose purpose is demonstrated in its striking appearance. The conceptual home must-have, part of the studio’s experimental line of floating furniture, first debuted at Tuleste Factory during NYCxDESIGN on May 18.
This water-resistant sofa set, decked out in life jacket orange and standing on pinewood legs, is built in with a paddle attachment, rocket flare, and emergency strobe. Stashed in its ottoman is a user’s manual, sunscreen, and even a martini mixology kit with a serving of olives. All these features aim to help the user ebb and flow with their life at sea.
Importantly, the couch has a sea level indicator that, upon rising to the ‘critical’ mark due to dangerously high tides, prompts the furniture to “[transition] seamlessly from an attractive sofa to a safety raft, ready to whisk you away,” Mother tells DesignTAXI in an email.
All this sounds a tad too flippant for a dire outlook, doesn’t it? Well, as the sofa’s name suggests, Bliss reflects humans’ surprising ability to “sit back, relax, and continue doing nothing… in bliss!” while the world is fast heating up and ice caps are melting.
“With a satirical lens, the art piece aims to highlight the imbalance between people with means and those without, during times of catastrophe,” Mother explains.
One day, a wet day won’t just mean there’ll be a downpour.
In line with the sustainable theme, the sofa’s wooden frame is constructed from reclaimed 200-year-old pine, while its covering is crafted from water-resistant Sunbrella textiles, which also make this dystopian piece long-lasting too.
The Bliss sofa and ottoman set is priced at a lofty US$100,000. However, Mother mentions that the money will go into driving more important discussions about the future, and providing financial support to people displaced for reasons relating to climate change under the USA for UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency.
[via Mother, images courtesy]