FREE-MAN and studiojos Launch Sphaira
Design gallery FREE-MAN and multidisciplinary practice studiojos have launched a range of striking spherical furniture and lighting in natural materials inspired by ancient Greece
Sphaira, the Greek word for sphere, is an apt name for the new furniture collection by FREE-MAN and studiojos. A collaboration between friends and former colleagues Jack Freeman and Joss Knight, the range features silhouettes in plump discs, balls, bolsters, and round corners applied to furniture and lighting pieces. Freeman and Knight, who also studied together, had been working behind the scenes on various projects over the years but the Sphaira collection marks their first official partnership.
Freeman, who runs his own design and furniture gallery, and Knight, an interior architect and object designer, worked diligently during the pandemic to finesse the proportional and balanced shapes. ‘Many of the bases are balls and spheres, so they had to be beautiful but also hold up the weight of the heavier furniture. This meant lots of prototyping and making moulds with a team that included industrial designers and engineers,’ Freeman says.
Graphic profiles and a reserved colour palette in pale, milky tones strike the perfect balance for sofas and tables that make a statement but are still classic and refined. ‘The idea isn’t necessarily for people to buy the entire range,’ says Freeman. ‘It presents as art as well as functional furniture that’s striking and sophisticated but also pared back and relaxed, made from hardworking materials like lime-wash timber, Carrara marble and linens that suit the Australian lifestyle of being close to the water, whether by a pool or even under the cover of a cabana.’
Freeman says their mood board featured a combination of photographs and ideas pertaining to ancient Greek monuments and architecture alongside modern imagery of the Mediterranean islands. ‘Greece’s historic architecture is immensely powerful and exists on a large scale. In a similar way, our pieces are effective standing alone in their own right — they feel heavy and have a sculptural presence but with a contemporary, casual twist.’ The duality of these concepts, together with the marriage of natural fabrics and finishes, has resulted in a collection underpinned by strong, novel and curvaceous forms.
Text / Carli Philips
Images / Stas Povaliaev
