Pilot Chair by Barber & Osgerby for Knoll

The Pilot chair is an innovative, upholstered lounge chair from Knoll, designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. Pilot is a simple comfortable and lightweight seating system designed for home, work and contract use. As spaces have to accommodate both work and play the flexibility of the Pilot range will suit all the user’s needs and preferences. Pilot is a rotating chair with visual and material lightness. On first viewing the chair, one notices that the seat is strongly cantilevered from the sub-frame and appears to float. This allows space for the seat to flex downwards when sat on which greatly increases comfort. The apparently flat back panel also has a large amount of flexibility in its construction allowing it to curve to the body’s shape.

Pilot has been developed around a simple ’T’ shaped aluminium frame. Seamlessly mounted to the frame are the moulded foam seat, back, aluminium base and armrests. This system breaks the chair down into only six components, which offers a number of advantages; quick assembly, easily interchangeable parts and compact shipping dimensions. The cast aluminium base has been reduced to the thinnest possible section to give the ultimate visual lightness to the chair.

The chair's versatility is further enhanced by having a variety of upholstery and arm options enabling it to adapt to a range of uses and locations. The ‘slim’ version is the most visually lightweight and ‘slim soft‘ gives a further level of padded comfort. The arms are either tubular steel set into an aluminium casting or a fully upholstered arm. By varying the thickness of the upholstery or changing the material of the armrests the chair transforms both aesthetically and functionally.