Design brand Vitra has collaborated with Swiss studio Panter & Turon on its latest sofa, Anagram, which aims to “serve as a bridge between today and tomorrow.”
The Anagram Sofa can be broken down into its component materials for recycling and uses less foam as a filler, reducing its impact on the environment.
They’re also modular, designed to be easily modified, whether for short-term activities like movie and game nights, or long-term reconfigurations when moving.
![Photo of a Vitra Anagram sofa in a dark orange fabric and corner configuration](https://i0.wp.com/static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/06/panter-tourron-vitra-anagram-sofa_dezeen_2364_col_18-852x1065.jpg?resize=749%2C936&ssl=1)
According to Vitra, the Anagram Sofa was designed in response to social and cultural changes.
While living room furniture used to be centered around the television, things are changing as individuals use their own devices for entertainment and use their home for multiple purposes, including work.
To accommodate changing lifestyles, the company commissioned Panter & Turon to create a sofa that would give a sense of “multiple possibilities”, rather than something that would be bought to fit a particular living room.
“Anagram is like a bridge between today and tomorrow,” says Stefano Panterotto, who co-founded Panter & Turon with Alexis Turon.
![A close-up detail of the Anagram Sofa in cream white bouclé with a side table attached to the frame.](https://i0.wp.com/static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/06/panter-tourron-vitra-anagram-sofa_dezeen_2364_col_13-852x1065.jpg?resize=749%2C936&ssl=1)
Pantelotto says the sofa can be adapted from traditional seating arrangements to more “modern and unconventional” configurations, such as “face-to-face, back-to-back or non-directional.”
It can also be partitioned off to create a reading nook or a guest bed.
“The idea was to create something truly innovative and technological, not to create an inaccessible product, but to keep it versatile so that it can fit not only in the homes of today but also in the homes of 20 years from now,” Pantelotte continued.
Key to the design is the clicking mechanism, developed by Panter & Turon in collaboration with Vitra, which makes changing Anagram’s modules and elements not only easy but “almost fun,” Turon said.
This system allows elements to move along the frame rather than being fixed in a specific place.
![Photo of someone installing a backrest on a Vitra Anagram sofa frame](https://i0.wp.com/static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/06/panter-tourron-vitra-anagram-sofa_dezeen_2364_col_8-852x1136.jpg?resize=749%2C999&ssl=1)
“It was difficult to develop as we had to take into account international regulations regarding weight and applied forces, as well as safety regulations in each country, but the end result worked perfectly,” Toulon said.
Anagram was also designed to address two main issues that make it difficult or impossible to recycle sofas: the use of polyurethane foam and bonding dissimilar materials together.
The complete disassembly ability is made possible by a structure that Panterotto says “looks simple, but isn’t.”
It is built around a lightweight aluminium frame with a suspension layer of webbing over which the side panels, backrest and accessories are all attached.
But advances in materials technology mean there’s room for improvement in the future, and Pantelotte says Anagram still uses a minimal amount of foam “only in the core area to ensure the right level of absorption in the seat.”
The remaining stuffing has been replaced with 100% recycled PET fibers, a material the designers intend to replace or update if and when better alternatives become available.
A removable fabric cover and a frame made from 80 percent recycled aluminium increase the circularity of the product.
![Photo of a person undoing the cover of a Vitra gold sofa cushion](https://i0.wp.com/static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/06/panter-tourron-vitra-anagram-sofa_dezeen_2364_col_20-852x1136.jpg?resize=749%2C999&ssl=1)
According to Panter & Tourron, the reason most sofas can’t be recycled is to cut costs.
“Sofas are the pinnacle of structural complexity, with many different materials mixed and joined together to achieve the ultimate in ‘comfort,'” Turon said.
“Producers make these choices primarily because of economics, choosing composite materials over monolithic materials and preferring quicker assembly with glue over dismantled furniture.”
![Close-up of a person kneeling on a dark burgundy sofa seat with his knees sinking deep into the cushions](https://i0.wp.com/static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/06/panter-tourron-vitra-anagram-sofa_dezeen_2364_col_9-852x1136.jpg?resize=749%2C999&ssl=1)
The designers said they hope that more sustainable sofa designs will eventually be introduced into mainstream retailers as well as luxury brands.
The Anagram Sofa draws on insights gained by Pantelotte and Turon through their “Couch in an Envelope” project in collaboration with IKEA’s innovation lab Space10, as well as their own Tense flat-pack furniture collection.
The studio’s recent work includes the open source Terra AI “compass” and a past-and-future themed installation of a living room exhibited at Milan Design Week this year.