The Curve That Takes Time
The Curve That Takes Time
Some details are easy to notice while others only become interesting when you learn what it took to make them. Look at the Alero Chair and one of the first things you might notice is the back, it curves.
It gives the chair its shape and makes it feel softer than a chair built entirely from straight lines but that curve is also one of the parts that asks the most from the people making it and to understand why, we have to go back to where the Alero started.
It Started With a Need
It Started With a Need
The Alero was reimagined from the Leif Chair. At the time, a customer was looking for dining chairs to go around a round table. FOLM was invited for a consultation to think through what would work for the space, the table and the overall setting.
The first version taught them something important, the chairs were too large for the table and didn’t sit quite right within the setting, and the proportions didn’t create the relationship the team had imagined.
It wasn’t simply a matter of changing the table. The chair itself needed another look. And that became part of the journey towards Alero.
Once you see the Alero from the side, the back curve makes sense. It gives the chair a distinct silhouette without making the design feel overly complicated but producing that curve is another conversation entirely.
Wood does not simply decide to become a curve because you drew one.
There is shaping involved.
There are measurements to maintain.
There is the question of how the form will hold up once it becomes part of a working chair and there is the finish.
Every stage has to come together properly for the curve you imagined on paper to become the curve you see in the finished piece. This is where furniture production becomes very different from simply looking at furniture.
The Part You Don’t See
The Part You Don’t See
From the outside, the Alero is a chair.
In the workshop, it becomes a sequence of decisions:
How do we achieve this shape?
How do we maintain consistency?
How do we make sure the curve is right?
How does the wood respond as we work with it?
How does the upholstery sit against the frame?
The final chair doesn’t show you all of those questions.
It doesn’t need to but someone had to answer them.
Material Is Part of the Process
Material Is Part of the Process
The Alero isn’t tied to one particular wood. The choice of material can change depending on the project and the specification, just as the upholstery can influence how the finished chair feels.
For the version featured here, the frame was made from mahogany and paired with linen upholstery. But the more interesting point is that the chair can take on different material combinations. That flexibility matters because furniture doesn’t always begin with a blank room; Sometimes there is already a dining table.A particular colour palette.A fabric preference.A different wood elsewhere in the space. A piece has to be able to enter that conversation.
Two to Three Weeks of Making
Production of a piece like the Alero can take around two to three weeks, depending on the requirements and production process. That time isn’t simply waiting for a chair to appear, it is time spent getting the different parts of the piece to come together properly and when the design contains a detail as demanding as the curved back, that patience becomes part of the process.
There is a temptation, especially when looking at finished furniture online, to think of production as a straight line just to design it, make it and you are done.
But furniture rarely works that neatly, sometimes a shape has to be reconsidered, other times a first version reveals something the drawing couldn’t, even the detail that looks smallest on the finished chair takes the most attention in the workshop.
Look Again
The next time you see the Alero Chair, look at the curve. It is easy to treat it as just another beautiful detail but now you know that it is also one of the parts that asks the most from the making process.That is often the strange thing about good furniture.
The work can be complicated and the finished piece can look simple.
And sometimes, the details that took the longest to get right are exactly the ones that make the final piece feel effortless. The Alero is a chair but behind that curve is a little more than you see at first, that is where the making becomes part of the design.
Available for Pre-Order
Available for Pre-Order
Discover the Alero Dining Chair. A blend of lush upholstery and a sculptural wood frame, designed for elegant comfort in any dining or lounge setting.
Image Material
- Cedar Wood, Matte Lacquer Finish
- Linen Fabric, White Colour
NGN350,000.00
Wood
1+
Finish
Linen Fabric