Jean Nouvel’s So-So chair for Emeco is durable eco-design – made using the same process as chairs for the U.S. Navy.

At Paris Design Week recently, Jean Nouvel previewed his new collection: the So-So for Emeco. With a history of working alongside world-famous architects and designers, the U.S. chair company has previously collaborated with Frank Gehry, Sir Norman Foster and Philippe Starck.

The So-So chairs and stools are made of light, durable hand-brushed aluminum – one of Nouvel’s imperatives was that they weigh as little as possible. But they are also impressively eco: made from 80% recycled material, using both post-industrial and post-consumer waste.

The So-So collection is hand-produced at Emeco’s Hanover, Pennsylvania factory using the same 77-step process as the famous, ultra-hard-wearing 1944 Navy chairs, designed to “withstand water, salt air and sailors.” The collection was first conceived for, and shown at, the Sofitel Vienna Stephansdom, for which Nouvel also designed the building, as well as most of the other furniture. We love the smooth curves and burnished effect – a successful Franco-American alliance.

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