The world-class metallurgy of manufacturer De Castelli and the eclectic vision of designer Giampero Bodino meld into the sinuous and scintillating form of the Walt Chair, a two-seater that re-contextualizes the traditional Victorian “Conversation chair.”

Also known as a “courting bench,” “tête à tête,” and “chaperone chair,” the Victorian iteration featured a back-/armrest in an “S” shape, creating a barrier between occupants in order to maintain the socially appropriate “polite” distance.

While Walt presents a similarly curvaceous silhouette, it inverts the concept by bringing the two halves together—a fortuitous conjunction that celebrates love, as memorialized in a Walt Whitman poem inscribed on the seat, which is only coherent when the two halves are joined.

The poem suggests the persistence of love even in the absence of physical presence. Thankfully with Walt, users can have it both ways, as the chair’s principal gesture is unification: “two single identical elements defined by soft, symmetrical curves, designed to nestle perfectly and create a sinuous and welcoming composition which invites people to engage in an empathetic relationship.”

Presented at this year’s Homo Faber event in Venice, whose theme is “The Journey of Life,” Walt is made entirely of brass with a brushed finish on the seat and back. See De Castelli to find out more.