MVRDV's foam furniture collection showcased at Salone Furniture Fair in Milan

Whether you love or hate MVRDV's signature style of radical forms, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that the Dutch firm would eventually come out with their own furniture line.

Designed in collaboration with Belgian furniture label Sixinch, MVRDV recently announced the launch of "Vertical Village", a foam furniture collection currently displayed at the "Feeding New Ideas for the City" event at the Salone International Furniture Fair in Milan.

The idea for the collection stemmed from MVRDV's Vertical Village urban research project, which explores the transforming cityscapes of East Asia and building denser, vertical structures for future urban environments.

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"What started as a radical urban vision for the densification of the East Asian Metropolis has now turned into an iconic series of furniture, bringing vision and innovation to your home. The pieces are available in a wide variety of shapes and colours – allowing you to tailor your own personal Vertical Village."

"The product is flexible, waterproof, seamless, hygienic and comes in a range of striking and sophisticated colours. The objects are made of foam rubber with a PU coating, which is 100% recyclable and safe according to DIN EN71-3 standards for Children’s toys."

"After the Vertical Village exhibition in Hamburg, a 4 meter tall installation made of 80 of these foam elements returned to the MVRDV offices, it was spontaneously used by the staff and visitors as furniture becoming part of office life. In daily changing settings it is used as seats, waiting lounge, playground, pedestal for models and even for the odd deadline powernap. And so a furniture collection was born as a by-product of urban research."

"The 26 objects are in the shape of houses proposed for the Vertical Village and one can sit, lounge, work and play. The coated foam is resilient and can withstand office life, family life and even outdoor use.  

And why not put some unexpected architecture in an interior? A semi-detached house, a volume with a gap or a cloud shape? The objects are not furniture in the traditional sense, they are more experimental and appeal by being surprising: How does one use a soft house in a living room?"

"Under the title ‘The Vertical Village – Individual, Informal, Intense’ the research project explored the rapid urban transformation of East Asia, the qualities of urban villages, and the potential to develop much denser, vertical settlements as a radical alternative to the identical block-like architecture of standardised units and their consequences for city life.

The research was exhibited in Taipei, Seoul, Sao Paulo and Hamburg, usually accompanied by a large sculpture of a possible Vertical Village. After metal and plastic shapes in Seoul and Taipei in Hamburg the foam was the best solution for the 4 meter tall sculpture, leading to this furniture application."

"Vertical Village" furniture is available for purchase online at www.vertical-village.com.

Photos courtesy of MVRDV.