Seat in wood, metal and upholstery
Schneidersitz
2025
This lounge chair embodies the tension between two opposites. On the top side, there is modernity and purism. On the underside, there are four traditional joints that ensure the stability of this modern design through the use of wooden wedges.
When sitting on the lounge chair, the presence of the past is not immediately noticeable. It is only when one distances oneself from it, or observes it from a lower angle, that its traditional joints reveal their technical significance.
As tradition evolves, its boundaries gradually blur, transforming into a minimalist modernity where past and present no longer stand in opposition, but exist as part of the same continuous process of becoming.
Borders are like rails that steer us in fixed directions. They prevent us from moving left or right. Tradition is one such boundary—it lays down rails that confine us to expected paths, leaving little room for detours or shortcuts. Innovation, however, often begins when we step off those rails and choose to walk on our own.
The lounge chair Schneidersitz is a way of gently disregarding the etiquette of following the established routes of traditional furniture making. Classic wedge constructions are among the oldest and most traditional methods in furniture design. It was felt that it was time for the wedge to step off the train and start walking on its own path.
After the adolescent phase of having to do what was expected, Arne Jäkel decided to become a carpenter. Wood is a still material with so much emotion, sensation, and mood in it that it instantly captured his full attention. He went on to study product & furniture design with a focus on wood.
After having built furniture in a very traditional and conservative way, he felt the need to break free and breathe out when he started to design furniture with a nonconformist approach.
He founded VON DENEN as a brand for interiors with a strong character, eccentric design, and local production. The lounge chair Schneidersitz is part of his debut collection and was designed in collaboration with his dear friend and designer Franz Peipp.