THE HARD WAY
Why the newest crop of design-forward furniture doesn’t come with comfy cushions.
THERE WAS ONLY enough in my budget for one outdoor lounge chair. “How is that possible?” my husband asked as I outlined my plans for the backyard this spring. “How much can an outdoor chair be?” In this case? A lot. But the chair I wanted wasn’t just any chair; it was the steel Palissade lounge chair. Designed by French design firm Bouroullec for the Danish brand Hay, it has a low and languorous silhouette that exudes style. I assured myself that simply placing one in my yard would transport me to the Jardin des Tuileries, where similar army-green metal chairs are lazily strewn around the garden’s grand fountain, the Bassin
Octogonal. Accustomed to my predilection for choosing form over function, my husband had but one follow-up question: “Is the chair comfortable?” to which I replied, “Is that important?”
Where the backyard was once a bastion of inexpensive picnic tables and folding chairs, a new generation of design lovers are investing in the creation of sophisticated outdoor rooms. “The dream today is to have all the comforts and luxuries of the indoors outdoors,” says Calgary-based interior designer Nam Dang-Mitchell, who is internationally renowned for her sumptuous design aesthetic. But comfort can be a double-edged sword when it comes to style.
Outdoor pieces are widely available in perfectly coordinated furniture sets that follow the exact same design recipe as North American living rooms. Bland sectional couches laden with oversized cushions are paired with matching armchairs and featureless side tables that are small replicas of the coffee table. “When taken too far, your garden can end up looking like a suburban living room with a giant TV,” adds Dang-Mitchell.
In response, designers like DangMitchell are turning to iconic pieces to add personality and sophistication to outdoor spaces. “There is a desire for more sculptural, artful pieces that interact with nature to enhance the magical quality of the garden,” she explains. One of her go-tos is the Bertoia side chair, an airy piece that’s manufactured out of delicate-looking steel rods that do have some practicality. “I’m doing a custom home in Maui, and we plan on putting these chairs around a live-edge wooden table on the patio where most of the living will occur,” says Dang-Mitchell. “Not only are they stylish but they’re perfect for kids in wet swimsuits too.”
Designed by sculptor Harry Bertoia in 1952, the eponymous mid-century chair, unsurprisingly, has been the signature chair in the Sculpture Garden at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Manhattan for decades. “You see right through them,” MoMA deputy director Peter Read has said. “They don’t interrupt your view of the sculpture or of the fountains or of the trees and the flowers and so forth. They almost disappear.”
Using pieces in your backyard that allow the garden to become the feature is essential, says Klaus Nienkämper, owner and operator of Klaus, a Toronto design destination known for its masterfully curated selection of modern furnishings. “Sometimes the best design is the least visible,” explains Nienkämper. “This allows the surroundings to take all the credit.”
The Bertoia chair in black is the LBD of outdoor furniture—and it’s the current preference for the MoMA as well as Dang-Mitchell. The Palissade collection is made from powder-coated steel and only available in muted tones of anthracite and olive. The subdued hues, in addition to the chairs’ airiness, further camouflage them.
Not everyone wants their garden furniture to take a back seat, however. In Miami’s Design District, bold and brightly coloured outdoor furniture spills out onto the sidewalks. The Design District and nearby Wynwood are both known for their extravagant and colourful murals painted by street artists. In a walkway around the corner from the Fendi boutique, a hot-pink metal settee is the perfect spot for tired tourists. Down the street, a grouping of turquoise side chairs could be mistaken for an art installation at Miami Art Basel. Aesthetes looking for a similarly sunny vibe can turn to Blu Dot’s Hot Mesh collection, available in appropriately named colours like Watermelon and Aqua, or Article’s Caya chair, which comes in lush Grasshopper Green and sugary Verbena Pink.
But in my backyard, my husband’s question about comfort remained, even after I tried to explain that focusing on coziness can obfuscate the overall design. “The answer is unequivocally form over function,” says Nienkämper, who uses Palissade benches and tables in his own home. “Don’t worry,” I told my husband, adding my final selling point: “We can spring for the seat cushion.”