Since I happen to be an itinerant of sorts this year (in the past three months I’ve lived in Colorado, Upstate New York, and South Miami), I’ve taken a special interest in the landscape of cities and assorted public spaces. My observation is that, generally speaking, very few people realize the great extent to which their surroundings influence their mood. The topic obviously transcends this forum, but my take on an auspicious piece of contract seating like OSS 240 by Dune is particularly informed by the differences between the environments I’ve encountered thus far in my travels.

Oss 240. Designed by Dune Contract.

The NYC-based manufacturer is “committed to design integrity, quality, and longevity.” To that end, they’re particularly attuned to the evolution of the cultural aesthetic and interested in “targeting an urban environment with pieces that demonstrate a proper scale and proportion.” One interpretation of this objective is to create furniture that jibes well with a particular time and place. Like other recent contract offerings Jaks by Allermuir and Leland’s Brit Bench, OSS 240 handles public seating with a radial strategy. User space is determined by an asynchronous grid placed atop an oval profile. The seating spaces sketched out by said grid vary in size and shape, but each offer an outward orientation that eliminates the awkward knee-to-knee arrangement of much public seating.

To my eye, the scheme is maritime, resembling the spiraling contours of certain cephalopods or echinoderms (urchins, sea stars, and sand dollars). The look may lend OSS 240 to oceanfront locales—I can see it working especially wall at San Francisco International Airport or at Boston’s Logan, two cities that I’ve always thought of as quintessentially nautical, but its sculptural qualities and high-functionality make it worthy of any group seating venue—galleries, lounges, hotel lobbies…

Oss 240 features an MDF frame upholstered in foam and aluminum legs. Fabrics are available in multiple colors.