Cataract Chair

At first glance, the beguiling furniture creations of Raka Studio look like optical illusions. A joint project of three brothers — Saleh, Waleed and Rayan Ahmed Salman — this exciting modern Pakistan-based company marches to the beat of its own drum. Its one-of-a-kind coffee tables, floor lamps and sofas serve as functional pieces of furniture and sculptural works of art.

Raka Studio was established in 2018 after the self-taught brothers produced their first pieces for the family home. The driving force behind all of their visually stunning designs is a love of nature and natural variance. Each piece is made entirely by hand, usually from ash wood imported from the United States, and can take weeks to complete.

In the studio, furniture is curved using ancient Japanese wood-bending techniques, giving the pieces an organic fluidity. The goal is to disrupt prevalent design trends while prioritizing quality craftsmanship. “This approach to our work helps us create distinct pieces that are also technically and aesthetically intriguing,” the brothers explained to StyleRow.

These unique designs have earned Raka Studio critical acclaim and partnerships in the United States and the United Kingdom. The brothers have exhibited at galleries and completed commissions for hotels. 

Since its establishment, the studio has grown to include not just the brothers but a team of skilled craftsmen, with plans to introduce new materials and techniques over time. At Raka Studio, it’s all about pushing the limits of design.

On 1stDibs, find Raka Studio tables, lighting, seating and more.

Organic modern furniture is characterized by clean lines, an overall uncomplicated aesthetic and a prioritizing of natural, sustainable materials, such as wood and stone. There are lots of earth tones and natural-world textures rather than bright color palettes or fabrics embellished with busy patterns.

Organic furniture is minimalist and, owing to the ideas of venerable architect Frank Lloyd Wright, designed for warm spaces that promote harmony between human habitation and the great outdoors. Organic modern design, including in furniture and architecture, emerged in the 1930s.

Designers such as Andrianna Shamaris, Alguacil & Perkoff and Jörg Pietschmann — all known for organic modern design — have created furniture that brings dynamic and unpredictable energy to home interiors while emphasizing the importance of a relationship with the natural world.

Striking an appealing balance between our living spaces and nature doesn't have to be an arduous task — the broad selection of original organic modern furniture on 1stDibs includes solid wood tables, bamboo seating options, hand-knotted wall tapestries and more.

Chairs are an indispensable component of your home and office. Can you imagine your life without the vintage, new or antique chairs you love?

With the exception of rocking chairs, the majority of the seating in our homes today — Windsor chairs, chaise longues, wingback chairs — originated in either England or France. Art Nouveau chairs, the style of which also originated in those regions, embraced the inherent magnificence of the natural world with decorative flourishes and refined designs that blended both curved and geometric contour lines. While craftsmanship and styles have evolved in the past century, chairs have had a singular significance in our lives, no matter what your favorite chair looks like.

“The chair is the piece of furniture that is closest to human beings,” said Hans Wegner. The revered Danish cabinetmaker and furniture designer was prolific, having designed nearly 500 chairs over the course of his lifetime. His beloved designs include the Wishbone chair, the wingback Papa Bear chair and many more.

Other designers of Scandinavian modernist chairs introduced new dynamics to this staple with sculptural flowing lines, curvaceous shapes and efficient functionality. The Paimio armchair, Swan chair and Panton chair are vintage works of Finnish and Danish seating that left an indelible mark on the history of good furniture design.

“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts,” said Ray Eames. 

Visionary polymaths Ray and Charles Eames experimented with bent plywood and fiberglass with the goal of producing affordable furniture for a mass market. Like other celebrated mid-century modern furniture designers of elegant low-profile furnishings — among them Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Finn Juhl — the Eameses considered ergonomic support, durability and cost, all of which should be top of mind when shopping for the perfect chair. The mid-century years yielded many popular chairs.

The Eameses introduced numerous icons for manufacturer Herman Miller, such as the Eames lounge chair and ottoman, molded plywood dining chairs the DCM and DCW (which can be artfully mismatched around your dining table) and a wealth of other treasured pieces for the home and office. 

A good chair anchors us to a place and can become an object of timeless appeal. Take a seat and browse the rich variety of vintage, new and antique chairs on 1stDibs today.