IO Stool
Prize(s):
WINNER 2026 PRODUCT DESIGN / Homeware & Decoration
Lead Designer(s) Name(s):Zoë Chinonso Ene
Design Team / Other designer(s):Homenkà Design Ltd.
Manufacturer Name:Self-fabricated
Photo Credit:Christian Cassiel
Project Location:United Kingdom
Design Status:Prototype
Website: View
Product Description:
Modernist architect Adolf Loos famously asserted, in his 1910 lecture Ornament and Crime, that the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use. [1] Though Loos built a logical foundation for his argument, its definitiveness tied intellectual progress to cultural creative contexts. Could it disregard the value of potential design contributions and continuations from cultures with a history of ornamentation practiced with intention and layered meaning? The IO stool is an ongoing experiment in embodying ornament, beyond the conventional limit of surface decoration, into the very fabric of a machine-made object; in its material manipulation, its formative structure, and even in the shape of its negative spaces. Its design engages the Igbo-Nigerian graphical language of Uli, the two-dimensional motifs of this historical “communication expression”. [2] [1] Loos, A., & Opel, A. (1998) Ornament and crime: Selected essays, p.170-171 [2] Sanders, R. R. (2013) The Legendary Uli Women of Nigeria: Their Life Stories in Signs, Symbols, and Motifs.
Modernist architect Adolf Loos famously asserted, in his 1910 lecture Ornament and Crime, that the evolution of culture is synonymous with the removal of ornamentation from objects of everyday use. [1] Though Loos built a logical foundation for his argument, its definitiveness tied intellectual progress to cultural creative contexts. Could it disregard the value of potential design contributions and continuations from cultures with a history of ornamentation practiced with intention and layered meaning? The IO stool is an ongoing experiment in embodying ornament, beyond the conventional limit of surface decoration, into the very fabric of a machine-made object; in its material manipulation, its formative structure, and even in the shape of its negative spaces. Its design engages the Igbo-Nigerian graphical language of Uli, the two-dimensional motifs of this historical “communication expression”. [2] [1] Loos, A., & Opel, A. (1998) Ornament and crime: Selected essays, p.170-171 [2] Sanders, R. R. (2013) The Legendary Uli Women of Nigeria: Their Life Stories in Signs, Symbols, and Motifs.
Product Innovation / Specification:
IO is a nod to the Uli motif isi oji, though not in moniker alone. Each curve and gap tells an intentional story, seamlessly integrated into its structure. Isi oji, a direct abstraction of the negative shape seen when looking down onto a kola nut (a staple in Igbo culture), is echoed in the triangular gaps between where the stool’s rolled mild steel body meets and separates. Take a look. The stool also plays with the use of pattern as a hinge that aids the bending process, becoming both a structural component and carrier of a distinct visual voice; a functional ornament. Even production waste - steel cutouts and stencils - can be used as a mark-making tool for fabric and other applications, essentially closing the circle and poetically returning to two-dimensionality. This project is more than furniture; it is about the critical conversations sparked between tradition and innovation, culture and aesthetics, craft and the machine.
IO is a nod to the Uli motif isi oji, though not in moniker alone. Each curve and gap tells an intentional story, seamlessly integrated into its structure. Isi oji, a direct abstraction of the negative shape seen when looking down onto a kola nut (a staple in Igbo culture), is echoed in the triangular gaps between where the stool’s rolled mild steel body meets and separates. Take a look. The stool also plays with the use of pattern as a hinge that aids the bending process, becoming both a structural component and carrier of a distinct visual voice; a functional ornament. Even production waste - steel cutouts and stencils - can be used as a mark-making tool for fabric and other applications, essentially closing the circle and poetically returning to two-dimensionality. This project is more than furniture; it is about the critical conversations sparked between tradition and innovation, culture and aesthetics, craft and the machine.
Lead Designer(s) Name(s):Zoë Chinonso Ene
Profile Description:
Homenkà is a young, award-winning design studio and research collective dedicated to making objects and posing questions that continue culture collectively. Grounded by the belief that African design carries weight beyond aesthetic signifiers and generalizations, our work honors the indispensable value of Nigerian heritage, material culture, and making knowledge by keeping them alive in present contexts; out of museums and into the hands and minds, spaces and imaginations of Nigerian makers and everyday people. Homenkà is committed to documenting, storytelling, and synthesizing these enduring
Homenkà is a young, award-winning design studio and research collective dedicated to making objects and posing questions that continue culture collectively. Grounded by the belief that African design carries weight beyond aesthetic signifiers and generalizations, our work honors the indispensable value of Nigerian heritage, material culture, and making knowledge by keeping them alive in present contexts; out of museums and into the hands and minds, spaces and imaginations of Nigerian makers and everyday people. Homenkà is committed to documenting, storytelling, and synthesizing these enduring
Previous Awards Won:
BIG SEE Product Design Award (Home) • 2024
BIG SEE Product Design Award (Home) • 2024
