Given the name of the Rhizome Chair, coupled with the Rhizome Lamp I wrote about in October 2009, I’m beginning to think that the word rhizome may take off in the design world–perhaps even grow popular and overtake the word’s previous use in French theory (see Rhizome Lamp for a horribly brief tutorial on Deleuze and Guattari). This would be a wonderful flowering of the term, since rhizome actually refers to a complex series of rootstalks wherein nodes give rise to creeping subterranean branches, creating a maze of shoots.

Rhizome Chair. Designed by FI Outdoor.

The best example is an aspen tree, whose roots are interconnected with all its surrounding aspen trees so that an aspen grove is actually composed of one single organism. Can you tell I like the whole underground idea of the rhizome? It’s truly a fantastic metaphor for interconnected structures.

The people behind the Rhizome Chair must like the architectural concept as well. The idea behind the chair was to create “a self-contained solution that offers sustainable comfort, shelter and peacefulness.” Rhizome Chair is a sling chair with a built-in umbrella. It accommodates all manner of sitting and prone positions for persons of all shapes and sizes. FI Outdoors, an offshoot of Fabric Images, explains the genesis of the Rhizome Chair: It “started from a spark, and this spurred an opportunity to produce an idea for shelter that blossomed into the essence of relaxation and comfort.” The main branch of this operation, Fabric Images researches, develops, and manufactures interior and exterior fabric structures, including the metal framework: “We manufacture All of our architecture, print ALL graphics, and complete ALL metal and finishing work in our 1,000 sq. ft. facility located near Chicago.” They have constructed some impressive large-scale projects, so it makes sense for them to branch out into the outdoor furnishings market. If the clever, chameleon-like Rhizome Chair is any indication of what’s to come, then people should be in for some good design–and good design in the weather-resistant category is always welcome.

Via Design Milk.