Apical. Reform. Betula.

Apical. Reform. Betula.

Apical Reform’s Betula chair may just give the iconic Panton chair a run for its money.

Betula chair natural side view

Certainly they have the same susurrating silhouette.

Panton Chair for comparison to Betula chair
Vitra Panton Chair

But while Panton’s signature achievment is that it’s molded from one single slice of extruded plastic, Betula takes the opposite tack.

Betula chair angled view in moss

The name—which refers to the genus of the Birch tree—suggests as much, since Betula’s form unveils as a collective assemblage of some hundred individual pieces of Birch ply.

Betula chair in natural detail

Apical Reform refers to the technique as “Fluid Deconstructivism”: “The chair’s seemingly simple yet arrestingly fluid form is revealed with each precisely engineered and hand-assembled layer.”

Betula chair angled view in coral

Beginning with the dramatic S of the chair’s silhouette, Betula invites exploration via several senses. Touching it would certainly be a textural tour de force, let alone sitting in it. And for those who question how it would sit, Apical Reform offers the following: “The complex curvature of each subtly varied striation is designed for the comfort of the human form, despite its complicated joineries.”

Betula chair side view in moss

See Apical Reform to find out more.

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