See all Motoring NewsWhen you think of a cactus, what’s the last thing – aside from flaying off all your skin using rock salt and then hurling yourself face-first into it – you would want to do with it? That’s right: sit on it. Hasn’t stopped one pretentious Italian designer from creating a Cactus Chair, though.
The ‘visionary’ in question is Milan-based architect Mario Bellini and the capitalisation of ‘Cactus’ should give the game away. Of course this seating object is not based on the spiky, water-retentive desert flora, but instead is inspired by the Airbumps of a Citroën C4 Cactus. Which is much more sensible, isn’t it?
Bellini is showing off the Cactus Chair at this year’s Milan Design Week and the seat is made of the same thermo-plastic urethane (TPU) as the body armour on the wacky French hatchback-crossover-thing. He’s even used air in its construction, again harking back to the Citroën’s signature body sculpture.
Explaining his madness… sorry, wonderful creation, Bellini said: “When Citroën Italy showed me Airbump technology, the first idea that came to mind on touching the material was to wonder whether I couldn’t design a new chair with it; one as light as an ordinary plastic chair but with all the comfort of real upholstery.”
Well, why not? We’re sure people out there had exactly the same idea the first time they saw a C4 Cactus too: “Do you know what, it’s a nice car but perhaps we could make some interior furniture out of it instead?” Oh yes.