dIn the early- and mid-20th century, we saw the advent of chairs slung with leather. These were radical because they did away with supporting surfaces and upholstery, instead relying on leather suspended from a structural frame of metal tubing or wood. Now Copenhagen-based furniture designer Chiara Verde proposes an alternative suspended seating surface: Laminated cork. Strata is a lounge chair developed through a material-driven investigation into the structural potential of cork. At the core of the project is a layered composite system composed of thin cork sheets alternated with natural fibre textiles. Rather than functioning as a surface finish or a monolithic block, the cork becomes an active structural component, gaining stiffness and directional performance through the introduction of textile reinforcement. The seating elements are shaped through a process of lamination and forming, allowing the material to simultaneously provide structure, comfort, and visual identity. By exploiting the complementary properties of cork and natural fibres, the project transforms a traditionally non-structural material into a lightweight load-bearing element. The chair is organised around a clear and intuitive tectonic logic. A minimal metal frame provides support only where the material requires additional strength, while the cork components remain the primary protagonists of the construction. Consisting of four main parts connected through ten screws, Strata can be fully disassembled, facilitating transport, repair, and replacement of individual components.

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