What’s new: Vitra’s Bascule lounge chair
The Bascule lounge chair was designed by Studio Πfor Vitra.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FEELING of pulling on the jacket that would become your next favorite? How easily it sat on your shoulders, how right it felt from the very first moment.
That is exactly the feeling Lisa Ertel and Anne-Sophie Oberkrome of design duo Studio Πset out to capture when Swiss manufacturer Vitra asked them to design an entirely new kind of lounge chair.
”For us, the comparison with a jacket couldn't be more fitting,” Oberkrome laughs. ”Bascule is that favorite jacket you love to slip on: soft, familiar and simply comfortable.”
Vitra asked Studio Πto design a lounge chair that challenges the way upholstery is usually made.
At the heart of it all is a clever rocking mechanism developed by Vitra's engineers. Bascule tilts along with your movements, carrying you from an upright seat all the way to an almost horizontal recline — and all of it happens without a single lever or button in sight.
The Bascule lounge chair tilts as you shift, so there is no need to reach for a lever or think about the angle at all.
The loose cover gives the chair its unmistakable shape, falling over the frame the way a jacket falls over shoulders.
The name is hardly a coincidence: bascule is French for seesaw.
”What's clever about Bascule's mechanism is that it behaves like a cross between a swing and a seesaw,” Studio Œ explains. ”It supports every movement and feels completely natural and intuitive.”
Christian Grosen, Chief Design Officer at Vitra, is happy to shed a little more light on the mechanics hidden inside the chair.
”The suspended mechanism concealed in the armrests responds fluidly to shifts in the sitter's weight and supports every position, regardless of body size,” he explains. ”This automatic weight adjustment produces a gentle rocking effect.”
You can choose either a single colour or a duo-tone cover with a different shade inside and out.
Over that frame, Ertel and Oberkrome designed a generously cut cover that gives Bascule its distinctive silhouette. The pattern-making drew its inspiration from the world of fashion.
”We borrowed the tailoring techniques straight from fashion,” the duo explains. ”They were developed for clothes that move with you and slip on without a fuss. We wanted Bascule's cover to do the same.”
In practice, that meant dressing the chair in fabric and then setting it moving.
”It always got exciting when movement came into play,” Lisa Ertel recalls. ”As soon as the chair moved, you could see how the fabrics responded: where they stretched taut, where they fell loosely and where folds formed.”
Bascule's cover can be replaced with a new one, which gives the chair a fresh look easily.
But what happens if the fabric no longer feels like you, or the chair moves into a completely new home and a new interior?
”As tastes evolve, or Bascule moves to a new setting or passes to the next generation, a simple change of cover gives it an entirely new personality,” Studio Œ explains. ”That's what makes it so versatile.”
Bascule's plump cushions are filled with recycled fibres and V-Foam, the world's first economically recyclable polyurethane foam developed by Vitra together with BASF. The separately sold bench completes the sitting comfort.
Bascule is built to last, both over time and in daily use. Not a drop of adhesive holds it together, so every part can be repaired or replaced when the time comes.
”A chair with a future treats its materials honestly,” the duo sums up.
Bascule comes with a four-star swivel base in aluminium or a wooden base, and you can choose between a high-back version with a height-adjustable neck cushion and a low-back model. Put your feet up on the matching ottoman or bench and settle in for the afternoon!
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Published on 17 Sep, 2026
