In his capacity as artist, Arne Quinze professes an undying love for chaos: “I’d love to freeze one of these sublime moments when the logic of chaos, the only thing that is real, reveals its incomparable beauty and harmony.” One wonders how this philosophy–with its tinge of glorious anarchy–works its way into Airbench, a modular public seating concept by Studio Arne Quinze for manufacturer Quinze and Milan. To my eyes, the wonderful meanderings created by these interlocking sections of solid oak represent a beautiful new kind of order.

Airbench. Designed by Studio Arne Quinze for Quinze and Milan.

A millennial take on all those rigid, back-to-back, stadium-style monstrosities that yet dominate airports from L.A. to Newark, Airbench offers an aesthetic respite from the rigors of travel. Of course, travel venues don’t constitute the sole potential space for the concept. Airbench’s multifarious configurations lend it to all manner of public environs: the rectangular and linear “single” seems just right for parking oneself adjacent to a spacious hotel lobby, perhaps awaiting the imminent arrival of someone of import while sipping on a neat single malt; I can see the squarish “double” as a seating centerpiece at the Guggenheim, flanked on either side by the expansive canvas of a post-modern master; the small and large “Boomerang” unit–shaped like the business end of an equilateral triangle–is ideal for locations that beg for an interruption of the pervasive, public “uncomfortable silence”–doctor’s waiting rooms, for instance.

The modules can be linked, so the ultimate arrangement is constrained only by the surrounding walls and the scope of your imagination. And speaking of that creative capacity, Airbench also offers an opportunity to fly against convention via QM foam. This proprietary Quinze and Milan upholstery is available in vibrant shades of orange, green, yellow, red, and pink–all the better to complement the sedate tones and uniform linearity of oak. If you desire a bit of understatement, however, simply go with classic leather.

Airbench joins the ranks of past 3rings favorites The Cricket Bench, Oss 240, Sebastien Wierinck’s Urban Furniture Experiment, and Segis and Bertoli’s Highway Series. Each of these innovative assemblages offers a pleasant aesthetic diversion from the laborious monotony of traditional contract seating. Only the controlled chaos of Airbench, however, aspires to nothing less than re-contextualizing the nature of contemporary interpersonal contact: “As an ultimate communication tool, an Airbench setting creates a landscape of human interaction… Staying silent is no longer an option as it burdens you with an unpleasant feeling. Verbal and social interaction, giving new energy and impulses, becomes the only standard in community life.”