Monk
Furniture collection for Prostoria, 2013
The Monk series was designed for the Prostoria furniture brand. It includes a chair that comes in three slightly different flavours – a bar stool, a dining table, a coffee table, and a bench.
Originally conceived as pieces to complement the overhaul and refurbishing of the five-star Dubrovnik Palace hotel – an icon of Croatian modernist architecture in its own right – Monk chairs reference our own design heritage, as they were inspired by the iconic Lupina chair designed in the 1950s by the Slovenian designer Niko Kralj.
The collection therefore works to combines design language and elements of mid-20th-century modernism and contemporary minimalism, with both sources of influences present in the outlines of the collection. The chair’s simple shape is formed by two upholstered surfaces which form the ergonomic seat and backrest and the chair’s inner shell is made out of plywood.
The armrest appears merged into the seat, and the sleek metal legs help create the impression as if the piece is suspended in air. Originally the chair came in three different styles, available as a regular chair, an easy chair, or a swivel chair, but over the years Prostoria added even more iterations to the collection, introducing a variety of new materials and modifications.
