Some say the shortest distance between two points is a story. It logically follows, and I think designer John Lawson would agree, that the best way to tell a story is to forecast a connection between those two points.

Tacta U, a new chair designed by Mr. Lawson for Passoni (on display at this week’s HD Expo) “developed out of the idea of extending the legs as two sinuous lines of timber that touch and separate to form the arms and backrest.”

The result is a celebration of the simple line, of coming together only to move apart. Herein is the essence of story—Tacta-U extrapolates the idea by drawing an emergent form that looks as if it were expertly sketched on the air and magically made manifest in sculpted wood.

The debt to Thonet and to Modernist forms in general is overt, yet Tacta-U owns this while updating it for 2025.

It’s a chair so light and lithe that it appears one could balance it on a single finger. Tacta-U’s angled back legs also proffer a jaunty quality that makes it look primed for action, a kind of contained dynamism that would impress even Picasso—maestro of drawing on the air.

Tacta-U comes in solid Ash or Oak in white, natural, dark wengè, walnut, or black. Upholstery options include leather or choice of 13 different fabrics. Custom upholstery is available as well.

Visit Tacta-U at Suite 22‘s booth (#4955) this week at HD Expo, May 6-8.