Anastasija Mass

Department: Social Design
Website: anastasijamass.com

LOCUS Chair

With a continual focus on our intellectual efforts, we are increasingly becoming estranged from our body and sensory perceptions. In an effort to reconnect with our physical side, Anastasija Mass created her Locus chair. Made from highly tactile leather, its soft yet solid shape suggests a human form. In fact, during its fabrication, Mass moulded it around her body, making adjustments for a perfect fit. “In my research I discovered that pressure is a crucial factor in achieving a state of relaxation,” she says. Apparently, it influences our autonomic nervous system. This proved to be a crucial breakthrough in her design.
The end result thus has two broad ‘arms’ that capture you in a firm embrace; clenching you in the here and now of your own physicality to override the ceaseless activity of the mind. “It’s important to make things for the body that work from the inside, instead of always going for a visual effect,” she says. She aims to continue designing products that can restore the balance between body and mind.