‘biositzwerk’ Sets the Trend
STRÄHLE + HESS Takes the Lead in Sustainability at Heimtextil / UNESCO Ambassador Full of Praise.
Althengstett / Herrenberg (k-w). Never before has a car seat been at the center of attention during the Heimtextil in Frankfurt. But this year at the world’s largest trade fair for home and contract textiles, the ‘biositzwerk’ with its positive aura had an absolutely magnetic effect. And with it, the textile trendsetters from STRÄHLE + HESS, in cooperation with the creative team from SCHÄFER-OESTERLE, also demonstrated that sustainability is the keyword for the future in interior design. The vice-president of the German Commission for UNESCO, Dr. Verena Metze-Mangold, came by personally to admire the new ‘biositzwerk’.
Visitors to this trade fair probably weren’t expecting to see decisive trends for the new industrial year in the automotive field. But ‘biositzwerk’ drew tremendous attention due to its choice of materials and the positive aura emerging from its color design. The maverick designer from Herrenberg, Claudia Khalil, had composed this prototype combining fine-grain organically tanned leather from SCHÄFER-OESTERLE with knitted bamboo fiber in beige from STRÄHLE + HESS. Additionally, she reinforced the backrest with material from BARK CLOTH, a German-Ugandan family enterprise. All three firms presented their mutual creation in Frankfurt, with the concept car seat as elegant proof that sustainability is trump.
That automotive interiors can be designed on an ecological basis has long been clear to the design teams at both firms. With the ‘biositzwerk’, they have produced a prototype that conforms to the ‘cradle to cradle’ principle. In keeping with the theses of the German chemist Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and the US-American architect William McDonough, their conception for high-quality automotive interiors foresees environmentally responsible production cycles aimed at ecological effectiveness. Nothing involved in the production process is allowed to go to waste. Materials for products that are optimized in terms of biological cycles serve as biological nutrients. They can be released into the environment without negative effect. Technical nutrients are restricted to closed production cycles.
Both SCHÄFER-OESTERLE and STRÄHLE + HESS are among the pioneers working toward production in controlled cycles, which attracted great attention in Frankfurt particularly among textile designers. “With the systematic application of our ideas, we will continue to be the talk of the town,“ assured Kirsten Schönharting, CEO at STRÄHLE + HESS, referring to the enormous interest generated at Heimtextil.
The designers for high-quality automotive interiors also integrated a special mechanism into the ‘biositzwerk’, adding a practical component that makes the functional seat even more valuable. A simple adjustment allows the user to decide whether to leave the seat as is, or to extend the side flaps for more sitting space. This makes for additional seating comfort due to the XXL option.
In terms of optics, the ‘biositzwerk’ has a particularly stylish look thanks to the fine-grain leather with its sandy-looking surface and the cream-colored knitted bamboo forming the side flaps. Topstitching, reminiscent of a baseball glove, lends a distinctive flair to the seat with its elegantly simple construction.
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