NeoCon will see the launch of the Brooks chair from international designer Paul Brooks. Stylex is thrilled to be working with Brooks on this new versatile, stackable seating solution. We asked Brooks some questions to set the stage for the launch…
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND AND HOW DID YOU COME TO WORK FOR STYLEX?
I had always been interested in sculpture and so decided to take a course in 3D design. This led to 6 years of study and ultimately to the founding of my own design practice more than 20 years ago.
With regard to my work with Stylex, I have always quite liked chairs. They are different from other objects and present a special challenge for designers. Considering the Stylex focus on seating, it was natural that I would work with them! I first met Bruce around 5 years ago. We began communicating, and I found myself really enjoying his emails and design philosophy. After a chance meeting on the floor of Orgatec a couple years back, we decided to engage in our first collaboration.
WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE NEW BROOKS CHAIR?
The Brooks chair was about a year and a half in the making. It is special for two reasons. We really worked hard in the early stages to make sure that the chair was very much a multipurpose chair – with or without the arms or any special finishes or features. Secondly, we all had the strong desire to purify the design, to make it as clean, simple, and elegant as possible. The detailing is exceedingly refined.
WHAT WAS THE BEST PART ABOUT WORKING WITH STYLEX?
It is quite interesting that the relationship really grew via email. There was a regular exchange throughout the process. Bruce and the Stylex team were so detailed, thorough, and thoughtful. The fact that we have been separated by thousands of miles throughout the process was never an issue. Bruce is a designer at heart and cares emotionally as much as I do about every last detail. It was such a pleasure working with him. There was also a great balance between our two teams. Sometimes we were coming at the development process from different places, and there was real back and forth, but all of us were always pushing for the same result – and it worked out really well.