Upholstery, industrial style

Upholstery Journal | August 2010

Channels filled with high-density polyurethane foam make up Industrial Upholstery, a project spearheaded by designer Gilli Kuchik of Bakery Studios in Tel Aviv, Israel. Kuchik sought to create a new upholstering technique based on industrialized logic, thus creating a new upholstery aesthetic.

“The principle of the project is to use the upholstery fabric as the mold for the construction,” Kuchik says.

Kuchik chose to work with neoprene, which is typically used for diving gear and watersports. She stitched channels in the neoprene and then injected them with high-density polyurethane foam using a pressure injector the Bakery team developed at their studio. Kuchik decided to use polyurethane because of the material’s ability to expand and create a blown-up look.

However, the project was not without obstacles. A challenge presented itself when the PU started weeping out of the seams.

“We had a long and exhausting journey of endless tests until we managed to find out how to prevent the PU foam from escaping from the seams,” Kuchik explains. “The final result is a very specific combination of neoprene type, the neoprene laminated fabric, PU temperature, type of stitch and thread.”

Two kinds of polyurethane were used for the construction of Industrial Upholstery—high-density polyurethane for the frame and foam for comfort and softness.

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