Milan Salone 2016 Preview: Dull desking

Milan – Dutch furniture brand Lensvelt’s latest collection is designed to be uninteresting in a bid to help workers concentrate.

• Lensvelt created the range in collaboration with architectural studio Space Encounters 
• The furniture is designed to restore the balance between work and play in the workplace

The Boring Collection is pitched as filling the space between ugly contract furniture and the trend for distracting interiors inspired by technology company offices, characterised by objects such as games tables and brightly coloured bean bags.

Lensvelt’s aim was to create furniture that could restore the balance between work and play in the workplace. The collection includes four types of desk, two cabinets, a bin, a clock, an acoustic panel, a desk chair and a visitor’s chair, all in a soft grey monotone. Each item adopts an archetypal form in order to emphasise its inconspicuousness.

‘When slides, brainstorm mattresses and ping-pong tables started appearing we lost sight of what offices are meant for,’ a spokesperson from Lensvelt told Dezeen.

Artist duo Lernert & Sander were commissioned to create a series of sculptural photographs and a video of the collection, and the latter will be presented as an installation in the Ventura Lambrate exhibition at Milan Salone Internazionale del Mobile.