The home of architecture and design in the Asia-Pacific

Get the latest design news direct to your inbox!

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

A modern take on the classic Windsor chair with bright colours and new geometry

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

Kartell revisits the classic 18th century Windsor chair in the new Comback designed by Patricia Urquiola. Whereas standard chairs were continuous at the back legs and the upright of the back, the Windsor chair’s legs and uprights were turned on a pole-lathe and round-tenoned into the seat.

In the contemporary take of the Comback (from comb-back) the back and arms are formed not from steam bent wood and spokes, but from batch-dyed thermoplastic technopolymer. This is shaped in a single mould into an array of ‘teeth’ emanating from a vertebrae of hexagons.

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

The seven ‘teeth’ of the upper back spread out towards the lumbar region, where the reinforced hexagonal rim acts as an axis from which the teeth of the lower back radiate down at a different angle to the seat.

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

This perfectly proportioned paean to times past is newly arrived in Australia. It asserts itself as emblematic of current times with its geometry, emphasised by colours such as Orangey Red, Yellow, Grey Blue,  White, Black and Hazelnut.

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

The Comback is available in four versions. The Swivel chair, the Sled chair, the Wooden chair and, in an ultimate loveletter to the 18th century, the Rocking chair.

The Swivel chair has four legs and a swivel shaft in White or Black. The Sled chair has two slim, tubular legs in White, Black, Orangey Red, Yellow, Grey Blue or Hazelnut.

Comback Chair by Patricia Urquiola for Kartell

The Wooden chair has four oak-stained Ashwood or white or black painted Beechwood legs. The Rocking chair has two rocker runners in Oak-stained Ashwood.

The Comback embodies the artisanal elegance of design of the 18th century, with a new geometry that speaks to modern times and interiors.

Space Furniture

spacefurniture.com.au

INDESIGN is on instagram

Follow @indesignlive


The Indesign Collection

A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers


Indesign Our Partners

Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!

The uncharted plate: Ivan Brehm’s pursuit of crossroads cooking with Gaggenau and human connection.

The uncharted plate: Ivan Brehm’s pursuit of crossroads cooking with Gaggenau and human connection.

In this candid interview, the culinary mastermind behind Singapore’s Nouri and Appetite talks about food as an act of human connection that transcends borders and accolades, the crucial role of technology in preserving its unifying power, and finding a kindred spirit in Gaggenau’s reverence for tradition and relentless pursuit of innovation.

Dynamic dazzle of radical restraint: Gaggenau’s 200 Series Flex Induction Cooktop

Dynamic dazzle of radical restraint: Gaggenau’s 200 Series Flex Induction Cooktop

Gaggenau’s understated appliance fuses a carefully calibrated aesthetic of deliberate subtraction with an intuitive dynamism of culinary fluidity, unveiling a delightfully unrestricted spectrum of high-performing creativity.

An untethered design for a fluid workplace: Joel Sampson discusses the Bay Work Pod

An untethered design for a fluid workplace: Joel Sampson discusses the Bay Work Pod

How can design empower the individual in a workplace transforming from a place to an activity? Here, Design Director Joel Sampson reveals how prioritising human needs – including agency, privacy, pause and connection – and leveraging responsive spatial solutions like the Herman Miller Bay Work Pod is key to crafting engaging and radically inclusive hybrid environments.

Celebrating the best in kitchen design

Celebrating the best in kitchen design

The Sub-Zero and Wolf Kitchen Design Contest is officially open. And the long-running competition offers Australian architects, designers and builders the chance to gain global recognition for the most technically resolved, performance-led kitchen projects.

Related Stories


While you were sleeping

The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed