During his time as an instructor at the California College of Art, industrial designer Brian Kane observed how students interacted with furniture in public spaces on campus. He noticed that very few of them sat in what might be considered a traditional way. They perched on arms. They curled up. They sprawled out. This observation inspired a versatile and fluid design response, which became the Swoop family of lounge furniture.
People have been sitting on Brian Kane designs for years. Kids and grownups sit in his very cool rubber chairs; they’re part of the permanent collection of the San Francisco MoMA. And he’s widely known as a designer of public pieces; his comfortable benches and graceful bike racks pop up on sidewalks in New York and San Francisco. In these objects, as in all his designs, Kane strives for what he calls “craft through technology. I have always attempted to explore existing materials and processes and use them in new ways that add an element of detail or craft that is unique.