Plants and animals have adapted over millennia to respond
to evolutionary niches and perhaps none more so than the
humble beetle. 300,000 species live across the globe in
almost every environment on land or in water. Their sheer
diversity and adaptability have seen them inform and inspire
everything from ancient cultural myths to twentieth-century
cars and British pop bands.
The discipline of biomimicry proposes that the ingenuity of
nature can be translated into contemporary product and
furniture design, in order to seek smarter solutions that are
good for our mental and physical health as well as the planet.
“The perfection, honesty and harmony found in nature can
suggest technical resolutions and aesthetic forms,” say
designers Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi of GamFratesi.
“By mimicking the finer details of nature with form, function,
proportion or pattern, we can recreate biophilic human con-
nections and healthy responses to the natural environment.”
E
T
For the Beetle Chair, GamFratesi became captivated by the
idea of translating the form of a beetle into a product for the
home. The pair drew on the form and function of an archetypal
beetle to create an iconic and ergonomic chair with a hard, yet
supple, two-part outer shell with a comfortable inner surface
“The kind and protective anatomy of the beetle fascinated
us,” they explain. “The Beetle’s outline is so harmonious; we
immediately felt the desire to reinterpret it.”
The structure of a beetle’s articulated shell comprises solid
plates connected by flexible sutures, which allow the beetle
to move, while maintaining protection and form.
“It looks solid and impenetrable and yet, in places, it is
sinuous and flexible, and this seeming contradiction is what
enables it to move freely,” say the designers. “All these
elements are linked and work together in a fascinating way.
One of the many reasons we studied beetles was their ability
to carry out technical movements while keeping their parts
rigid and defined.”
In 2013, GUBI and GamFratesi introduced the Beetle Chair to
the world, and a modern design classic was born.