San Francisco, California, USA

Designer and architect Angelita Alves creates the Nest Chair drawing inspiration from the inherent qualities of a nest: safety and protection in a way to explore the concepts of origins and belonging and contemplate the consequences of leaving one’s origins behind.

For its original design approach, Nest Chair has been awarded a 2023 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

Nest Chair chair reflects on the disconnect between Alves’ mixed Brazilian heritage – European, African, and Native – and the traditional craft techniques still used by the Native peoples of Brazil to craft their dwellings, or ‘ocas.’

Through the use of traditional weaving techniques passed down for generations, the designer wanted her Nest Chair to speak about the loss and displacement that can arise from miscegenation and emigration, while also reconnecting to one’s cultural heritage.

To create the chair, more than 6,000 feet of fiber rush (a type of paper cord) were used.

Each section of approximately one foot was cut and knotted individually over a period of approximately 300 hours.

Project: Nest Chair
Designer: Angelita Alves
Manufacturer: Angelita Alves