The humble seat, in its endless iterations, has continued to occupy the minds of designers and furniture makers for centuries. This week, as the Salone del Mobile furniture fair and Milan Design Week gets underway, the everyday furnishing is celebrated in an exhibition from British designer Max Lamb.

“Max's work shows the power of the connection between the mind and the hand”

Exercises in Seating will showcase 40 of Lamb’s creations – from elemental thrones in marble and stone to boxy wooden chairs and geometric metallic stools – in a show that explores the evolution of his portfolio over the last 10 years. 

Ahead of the exhibition at the Garage San Remo in the burgeoning 5vie district, which is fast becoming one of Milan’s most talked-about design neighborhoods, Barbara Anastacio visited the Royal Collage of Art-trained designer’s London studio for today’s film. 

“Each time he finds new techniques he goes back to rethinking past projects into new ones”

The research-based works in the show are arranged in a ‘seat circle’ – not dissimilar to a contemporary Stonehenge – as Lamb revels in playing both sculptor and craftsman, confidently blurring the line between design and art. 

“The exhibition is a ‘retro-future-spective’: a neologism to say that, while the show includes many of Max’s past projects, they're not dead in the past but they are still being rethought and reworked into new pieces,” says curator Federica Sala. “The practice is at the center of Max's work, and each time he finds new solutions or new techniques, he goes back to rethinking past projects into new ones. He’s really a contemporary homo faber, in that his work shows the power of the connection between the mind and the hand.” 

Natalia Rachlin is Design Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.