New Chairs From David Adjaye & Knoll

British architect David Adjaye and Knoll have collaborated on a furniture collection that includes a pair of cantilevered chairs, memorably named Skin and Skeleton. The Washington Collection is said to have been inspired by Adjaye’s design for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, currently under construction, and scheduled to open in 2015.

The identically shaped Skin and Skeleton are, in essence, before and after versions of the same chair. Skeleton’s intricate cut-out seat and back pattern, constructed in hard-edged aluminum—available in three metallic colors—appear to be the internal framework for the lightweight Skin, made from solid, seamless, injection-molded nylon, and available in a range of bright colors. Says Adjaye, who’s making his first foray into furniture design, “When you look more closely you see that one is the skeleton and one is the muscle.”

Images: Trendir