Karim Rashid

Karim Rashid was born in Cairo in 1960, raised in Mississauga, Ontario, and graduated in industrial design from Carleton University in Ottawa in 1982. Based in New York, he works across furniture, lighting, surface design, brand identity and packaging. For Riva 1920 he has brought a fluid, continuous formal language to solid wood. The Kairo Lounge Chair (2009) is carved from a single block of scented cedar: a sculpted monolith whose enveloping form runs in one unbroken line from seat to back. Made in natural cedar, it is listed among the company's outdoor armchairs and depends entirely on the carved block for its structure. The chair sits within a wider body of work for the company that includes the Speed and Sleek tables, the Sleek and Klutch chairs and the Inverso stool, each translating his curvilinear idiom into timber.

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