“Defying expectation, hard becomes soft”. The Stix bench uses 121 spring-loaded wooden members as a part of its hard-yet-soft upper surface. Upon seating, working on a crude substitution of what a cushioned surface would do, the members slide downwards, taking the contour of your backside, providing a naturally comfortable seating even though the wood is designed to look hard and sturdy. Get off the Stix bench and the wooden members float back to their original position again, completing the illusion. Aside from the wooden playful upper surface, the rest of the bench comes in brass plated steel that’s designed to patina, giving the stool an old world finish that plays a wonderful contrast to the playful upper surface! It’s nice to see designers try to achieve things that go against the expectations of the materials they use. Earlier this month we saw something similar in the and the from 2015 that pulled the hard/soft illusion off with sheer brilliance, and we can’t help but be excited to see what other designers do with this design direction! Designer: