Barber Osgerby Compact Armchair and Sofa

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby  

In 2013, Barber and Osgerby debuted their first collaboration with Knoll at Salone Internazionale del Mobile di Milano, before introducing their eponymous collection to the market the following year. Inspired by Florence Knoll’s iconic sofa—which, in turn, borrowed the aesthetic vocabulary of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s oeuvre—Barber and Osgerby began the design process by considering the chair as an architectural object, “Architecturally, we wanted to refer to the famous Florence Knoll Sofa. So we created this architectural, delineated envelope which is also supremely comfortable.”

The chairs’ t-shaped legs are both a source of structure and support, fitting between the joints of the cushions to serve the dual purpose of foot and connector. The result is seamless design that does away with the  frame, creating the appearance of a wholly integrated piece of furniture composed of several different components. For this reason, Osgerby contends, “The foot is really the icon of the sofa. It fits between each one of the arms and the seats, which are the architectural building blocks of the sofa."

Internationally acclaimed designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby founded their studio in 1996 after graduating with Master’s degrees in Architecture from The Royal College of Art in London. Alongside their eponymous studio, in 2001 Barber and Osgerby founded Universal Design Studio, now recognized as one of the world’s most innovative creative design consultancies working in architecture, interiors and exhibition design.

They have developed collections for several major furniture manufacturers as well as limited edition pieces and one-off works for both private and public commissions. BarberOsgerby’s work is held in permanent collections around the world including the V&A Museum, London; New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art; London's Design Museum; and the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 2012, the pair launched MAP, a strategy-based industrial design studio that draws on the creative and commercial skills of Barber and Osgerby to provide design intuition, creative direction and research to ambitious clients. That same year, Barber and Osgerby were honored with the appointment to design the London 2012 Olympic Torch.

Edward and Jay have been recognized in the Queen’s Birthday Honours and awarded OBEs for their services to the design industry.