Some of you may remember my little piece about one of my favorite holiday traditions, the DWR Champagne Chair contest, where furniture retailer Design Within Reach challenges creative people around the world to design a miniature chair using only the closure materials from a single bottle of sparkling wine.
Working in the design industry, I’m always tickled to see a convergence of wine and design, as it’s unfortunately none too common.
This contest produces some truly inspired work every year, as people around the world fiddle with cork, wire, foil, and all manner of strange tools to produce tiny chairs that are wonders of design. And who in this day and age couldn’t love a design contest based on recycling?
This year’s winners have just been announced and the three finalists are definitely up to the high standards of past years.
I adore the Grape Divine Chair in particular, with its seemingly lathe-turned base and right-out-of-a-diner look.
One of these days, when I’m living a life of leisure, I’ll indulge my own fantasies of furniture design and try my hand at this contest. In the meantime I congratulate all the winners and anyone who took the time to exercise their skills in the competition.