kursi

Commissioned by Design Doha, kursi imagines furniture as an invitation to gather. Simple stools can be placed together or scattered in the space, allowing visitors to pass time in conversation or quiet contemplation. When the time comes to pray, the stools can be placed to form a square, or stacked in four columns to mark out a sacred space, recalling Ottoman mosque minarets and the geometrical designs inherent to diverse Arabic decorative forms. The movable character of furniture calls for engaged creation of sacred space for prayer, installing shared intention and action as the core of envisioning, making and sustaining the sacred.

The piece consists of 12 glazed ceramic stools (two examples of six formal variations), each measuring 45 cm in height, between 40 and 50 cm in diameter and each weighing approximately nine kilograms. The upper seat surface of each stool is glazed using an individual and distinct colour of blue-green glaze developed specifically for the piece. The lower section of each stool variation has a different geometrical form and is left unglazed in a distinctive rugous red clay finish. Each stool is finished with a thin cork base and interior sleeve in order to protect it when placed on a hard floor or stacked one on another.