HUSH is a brilliant seating pod designed by Freyja Sewell that creates a small tucked away spot anywhere – even in the most crowded cities. A Brighton designer who finished her studies at Nagoya University in Japan, Sewell knows what it’s like to crave a quiet space that makes her feel comforted and safe.There are 31 megacities around the world, or cities that have a population of over 10 million people, and three of them are in the Middle East: Cairo, Istanbul and Tehran. With more people crowding into spaces increasingly absorbed by buildings or shopping malls and airports, many city dwellers have been forced to sacrifice their breathing room.Rents are high, so people share accommodation, buses are crowded, so are trains, and it’s almost impossible to find a quiet moment with cars rushing by or honking on the street.Or if you’re in Egypt, the country erupts into spontaneous mass protests every now and then.Sewell sought to provide a sustainable solution to this very important problem, one that would be available to a wider market.
She didn’t want her design to stay stuck in a museum.Instead, she designed the HUSH seating pod using methods and materials that enable her to commercialize her quirky concept.It can be used as an open seat made of 100 percent wool felt, or it can be partially closed up, or someone might choose to button it up completely.Sewell says that with these design, she sought to recreate the feeling of being inside the protective cavity of a womb.“The ‘womb’ shape inspires very different feelings in different people; to me it is a warm, cosy space, for contemplation and rest,” she says.There is a catch, however: it costs £2,700 to have the luxury of space. In Egypt, you could get a year-long lease for an apartment with that kind of money.:: Design-Milk Share this:Comments commentsClerkenwell Design Week 2013: British designer Freyja Sewell's felt cocoons have gone into production and were on show in a Victorian former prison in London this week (+ movie). Hush by Freyja Sewell is a felt pod constructed entirely from biodegradable materials, which users can crawl into to work or rest in private.
"By creating an enclosed space, Hush provides a personal retreat, a luxurious escape into a dark, hushed, natural space in the midst of a busy hotel, airport, office or library," explains Sewell. The outer shell of the pod is made from a single piece of industrial wool felt, while the internal padding is made from recycled wool fibres discarded by carpet manufacturers. Hush is manufactured by Ness Furniture in Durham and was presented by Sewell at the House of Detention as part of Clerkenwell Design Week. Also on show at Clerkenwell design week was a pendant lamp made from twenty-six cable ties and shelving by Michael Marriott. Another pod-like chair we've recently featured is the Kenny chair by Raw Edges, which is made from a single loop of material. See all our stories about chair design »See all our stories about felt »See all our stories about Clerkenwell Design Week » Here's a bit more information about Hush: Freyja Sewell set out to create a private space within a publicworld, constructed from natural, biodegradable materials.
Three years in the making, HUSH is now available for purchase. Open plan offices and public buildings, CCTV, online profile sharing, cameras built into our laptops; never has it been easier for humans to connect, but what about when we want to withdraw? There are now 21 cities with populations larger than ten million, and it is predicted that there will be many more in the future. It is essential to continue to develop new ways of allowing people to comfortably co-exist in these increasingly densely populated environments. By creating an enclosed space HUSH provides a personal retreat, a luxurious escape into a dark, hushed, natural space in the midst of a busy hotel, airport, office or library. HUSH provided a quiet space in an age of exponential population growth, where privacy and peaceful respite is an increasingly precious commodity. The main body of HUSH is cut from a single piece of 10mm industrial wool felt. Wool is naturally flame retardant, breathable, durable and elastic;
it is also multi-climatic, meaning it is warm when the environment is cold and cool when it’s warm. It is of course biodegradable and so won’t clog up landfill after disposal. It is produced sustainably from animals out in the open, with each sheep producing a new fleece each year. The internal padding of HUSH is made from recycled wool fibers, produced as a by-product of the British carpet industry.A place to hide, a warm cocoon, a biodegradable space, a felt pod… Hush is all of these things and more. Designed by University of Brighton graduate Freyja Sewell, Hush is a snuggly pod that offers a quiet place to hide and escape. Hand-sewn from biodegradable local grey felt, this object-space is a private micro retreat that can be set up practically anywhere. In a world with an increasingly virtual connection between humans, where the majority of us have a public online profile, with CCTV cameras everywhere and new social networks sprouting all the time, it is nice – and healthy – to sometimes withdraw from it all.