Design competition to create dazzling chairs from champagne bottle material reveals winners

The winners have been announced for the 18th Champagne Chair contest, organized by Design Within Reach in collaboration with Champagne Pommery. The annual competition invites entrants to create miniature chairs using only the foil, label, cage, and cork from no more than two champagne bottles.

Entrants may choose to replicate an iconic, recognizable chair design, or conceive an original idea. Winners were decided within two categories: Most Original, and Best Likeness, with an additional Pommery Prize selected by the contest's champagne partner. The competition jury was composed of representatives from social charity Office Hours, comprised of judges Asad Syrkett, Jacqueline Shaw, Tei Carpenter, Alyse Archer-Coite,́ and Alex Lin.

The challenge is not the only furniture-related story to feature in architectural discourse in recent times. Last October, we covered the story of a Blockchain-tracked chair collection inspired by architectural landmarks by Savio Firmino, while earlier this month, we reflected on the many career paths in furniture and product design open to architects.

Below, we have listed out the winning entries for the Champagne Chair contest in each of the three categories.

First Place: Most Original
Rock Stacking Throne by Danielle Levinson

First Place: Best Likeness
Crosshatch Chair by Irina Wang

Second Place: Most Original
Mimosa on Rattan by Janice Nicol

Second Place: Best Likeness
Eames Shell Rocking Chair by Summer Whitney

Winner: The Pommery Prize
Pommery Chair by Rob Metzgar