ako chair

Tapping into its memorable ‘Chair by its Cover’ series from the 80s, Arad turned OKA’s Washakie chair into AKO (!), by literally half-wrapping it with a metal sheet of reflective copper and stainless steel. This metal encirclement – all hand-made – celebrates the original design by reflecting its form at all angles, whilst creating a totally new, bold throne-like shape…  Arad’s inspiration was not for the metal shell to touch the chair, just encircle it and create a skin to elevate it. “OKA is the other side of the spectrum from what I do, although of course it’s actually the same – a chair or sofa is to be sat on, but I never did things for interior design, I just did them because I was interested in them.” says Ron Arad in conversation with Sue Jones, OKA’s co-founder and artistic director.