FutureDesignDays took the opportunity to have a chat with Dirk Wynants (speaker at FDD ‘04), founder, owner and CEO of Belgian outdoor furniture brand Extremis. We sat down in his latest piece of furniture – BeHive. BeHive is a concept based upon a round trampoline, positioned about 60 cm above the surface. It is surrounded by very comfortable side cushions you can either sit, lean or hang against.  The trampoline fabric itself also provides maximum comfort and automatically adapts to the shape of your body. Thanks to a hole in the middle of BeHive’s surface, with a table, people that wish to sit straight up can do so too, and eat or drink if they like to. Dirk tells us “The problem is not that the children jump up and down in it, the problem is to make the grown up to sit still. My 65 years old mother didn’t want to leave it for any reason. Everyone becomes a child again. But BeHive is also perfect for relaxing, like taking a nap after lunch”.

Extremis claims they don’t do products. They create “Tools for togetherness” which becomes clear when you look at all their furniture. “I try to create a special kind of atmosphere. Take for example the very uncomplex Qrater built with the cosy feeling that arise around a fireplace. For me it’s crucial to find the right atmosphere and then project it on the user. Otherwise I’ve failed. Therefore my garden looks like great laboratory. That’s where I let my friends and family try out all the prototypes”, says Dirk.

“I’m not good at aesthetics or decoration. The furnitures turns out to be what it has to be when I can see that it works. If I was trendy I would probably have added flowers on my pillows. But that’s not Extremis. Form follows emotion is what I would call it. For me that’s the future’s way of designing.

Extremis also presented the new pieces of furniture named Bronco and Corral at Interieur06. Check out the Dirk Wynants design at Extremis website.