Madrid-born designer Sara Leonor has dedicated more than two decades to redefining the chair as a sculptural, experimental object. With a career that began in the 1990s at IADE School of Design, Leonor has created over one thousand chair designs, each "with its own story, structure, and personality."
© Sara Leonor
Sara Leonor with the HI chair (left) and oTo y bud twin chairs (right).
Around 400 of these models have been produced in miniature using 3D printing, while 35 have been realised at full scale through collaborations with artisans and manufacturers. Her approach draws inspiration from the Bauhaus movement and iconic pieces such as Rietveld's Red and Blue Chair and Zig Zag. "Since I began in design, I've been drawn to the Bauhaus, to geometry," Leonor explains.
In 2009, she set herself the challenge of designing one chair per day for an entire year, establishing a practice that has since grown into a vast archive. Her explorations span wood, iron, fibreglass, acrylics, and 3D printing, pushing "new geometries, symmetries, and unexpected proposals."
Among her most celebrated works is Zeed, a versatile chair usable in multiple positions and once deemed unbuildable. "I applied to Tent London without having the prototype built. More than 30 carpenters told me it wouldn't work. In the end, one agreed to make it, convinced it would collapse. But it didn't. It stood in balance," recalls Leonor. The chair became a highlight of the 2010 London fair, stacked into a tower of 16.
The 3D-printed Dandelion marked a turning point. "From Dandelion onwards, I discovered 3D printing. I started producing all my prototypes at a 1:14 scale, which gave me greater freedom to explore shapes," she notes. Other designs, such as GoGo, HEXA and HI, further demonstrate her fusion of function and art, from sculptural transparency to modular backrests that double as wall compositions.
Her creations are not intended for conventional use. "The chairs I design aren't meant for eating or working. They're iconic elements to be placed in a corner. All chairs are made to order, in collaboration with local artisans," Leonor summarises.
In 2021, IADE School of Design awarded her the Emerging Figure Prize in Interior Design "for being a young designer who creates prototypes by hand and takes risks with her design proposals." Now based in London with her own studio in Islington, Leonor continues to explore new materials, with ceramics her next frontier.
For Leonor, each chair is "an opportunity to narrate, surprise, and re-signify" – transforming an everyday object into an emblem of geometry, memory, and imagination.
More information:
Sara Leonor
[email protected]
www.saraleonorstudio.com
