- Associated concept:
- Children & Childhood
- Associated concept:
- Furniture
- Associated concept:
- Plastic
- Credit line:
- Given by the designer
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measurement unit:
- mm
- Dimension value:
- 500
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measurement unit:
- mm
- Dimension value:
- 420
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measurement unit:
- mm
- Dimension value:
- 420
- Material:
- Plastic
- Material:
- Felt
- Object history note:
- Designed in 2008, Little Nobody is an children’s chair produced from a single piece of PET felt.
The chair is the children’s edition of Nobody, a full-size chair by Boris Berlin and Poul Christiansen of the Danish firm Komplot Design. The inspiration for the adult size is said to be a request by a Swedish prison to design a chair that was light, comfortable, stackable, noise-less, cavity-free, and unable to be used as a weapon.
The chair is a unique design for a childrens’ chair. The surprising materiality of the chair, stiffened felt which creates a solid structure able to hold body weight, provides a visually intriguing prompt for younger audiences to explore materiality.
A square of PET felt is thermopressed into shape around a mould, and the edges neatened with a water jet. The felt then retains its stiffness without any additions such as a frame, glue, resins, or fasteners. The resulting chair is light, without hard edges, easily stacked and silent when moved – making it an ideal chair for children. The PET felt from which the chair is made is an interesting example of how recycled plastic can be used in furniture production. To manufacture the felt, plastic bottles are first sorted and shredded into tiny fibres of plastic. These fibres are melted and formed into threads, and then felted using industrial machinery.
- Object name:
- Chair
- Object production date:
- 2008
- Date - association:
- Designed
- Date - earliest / single:
- 2008-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 2008-12-31
- Object production organisation:
- Komplot Design
- Organisation's association:
- Designer
- Object production person:
- Berlin, Boris
- Person's association:
- Designer
- Object production person:
- Christiansen, Poul
- Person's association:
- designer
- Object production place:
- Denmark
- Place association:
- Designed
- Physical description:
- A child's chair made from a single piece of red thermopressed PET felt.
- Responsible department/section:
- YVA
- Technique:
- ThermoPress
- Technique:
- A square of PET felt is thermopressed into shape around a mould, and the edges neatened with a water jet. The felt then retains its stiffness without any additions such as a frame, glue, resins, or fasteners.
To create the PET felt, used plastic bottles are first sorted and shredded into tiny fibres of plastic. These fibres are melted and formed into threads, and then felted using industrial machinery.
- Text reason:
- Collections online record
- Text:
- Little Nobody
The Little Nobody chair saves plastic bottles from being dumped in landfill. Producing a soft textile from former bottles uses less energy and water than growing new cotton plants.The production process results in a soft-to-touch seat. But it’s also rigid enough to stack, has no hard edges and is very quiet on hard surfaces.
Designer: Boris Berlin/Komplot Design
Date: 2007
Location: Denmark
Materials: Felt from recycled plastic
Given by Boris Berlin/Komplot Design
Museum no. B.45 to 47-2023
- Text date:
- 01/07/2023
- Text reason:
- Gallery label text
- Text:
- Step three: Trim the edges
Finally, the moulded felt needs its edges trimmed away. This excess is cut off using a very strong water jet, which cuts like laser beam. The finished chairs are solid and stackable.
[Young V&A, Design Gallery, Design changes materials we use, short object label]
- Text date:
- 01/07/2023
- Text reason:
- Gallery label text
- Text:
- Step two: Felt sheet to seat
Then, the felt sheets are heated to 215°C. The hot felt is laid over a mould in the shape of the chair, pressed into it, and cooled down to fix its shape.
[Young V&A, Design Gallery, Design changes materials we use, short object label]
- Text date:
- 01/07/2023
- Text reason:
- Gallery label text
- Text:
- Step one: Plastic to fibres
To make the Little Nobody chair, plastic bottles are first sorted and shredded into tiny fibres of plastic, as shown in the bell jar on the right.
These fibres are melted and formed into threads, and then felted using industrial machinery.
[Young V&A, Design Gallery, Design changes materials we use, short object label]
- Text date:
- 01/07/2023
- Text reason:
- Gallery label text
