MULU
Where Slow Moments Are Shared
About Carent
Cat’s Parent
Although most cat owners consider their cats as family members, some treat them more like humans or even infants/children.
These pet owners are usually just starting to work or are in their early stages. Although they might not be very rich, they are still willing to invest in their cat’s quality of life, including natural food and various toys—much like parents caring for a child.
Income: Around 40-60K
Age Group: Varied but around 25-45
MULU's large armrest allows cats to stay around your arm while you're sitting and enjoy a sweet time together
Design for our slow moment
MULU is a Scandinavian-inspired Lounge Chair designed for Carent who celebrates slow living and values the slow moment with their cats
The continuous curvature of MULU’s form gives the chair a more cohesive and complete gesture
Beyond the large armrest, MULU's wide seating area provides space for cats to sit beside you on either side comfortably
Slow living
Carent values the slow living, and cats play the key role in slow living lifestyle by encouraging mindfulness and calm.
No matter how busy and exhausted they are from their daily responsibilities, time spent with their cat(s) is one of their most relaxing and important moments.
Design Process
Want To Know More About the design thinking behind?
Click here to view the Brand&Reasearch book of Catdeology
Scandinavian Inspired
Scandinavian design aligns with Slow Living. Its material choices and color palettes create a calm and cohesive atmosphere, which allows Carents to enjoy peaceful afternoons with their cats: the slow moments filled with comfort, quiet, and happiness.
Extroversive Cats
Extroverted cats typically love three types of environments: elevated spots, warm areas (especially those with sunlight), and soft surfaces. Meeting any one of these conditions is often enough to attract a cat.
MULU emphasizes interaction between cats and Carents; therefore, it is primarily designed for extroverted cats.
Form ideation
Form Refine
Chair for the Cat Family
The pet market is on the rise, but current pet furniture is not well integrated into people's lives.
The designers considered a lot about the cat's behavior and tried to incorporate it. However, since the owner makes the decision, my design direction is focus to maintain the beauty of the chair while allowing cats to participate.
Cat’s Behavior
The focus is to discover the ideal gesture by taking the 20s timeless modern chair as reference
Considering Carent's spatial may be compact, MULU is designed to sit without the ottoman
As species, cats do not follow a universal behavioral code. In other words, feline behavior is highly individual and appears random.
However, based on whether Introvert or Extrovert, we can find the common behavior between them.
After defining the body form, I developed several leg options based on weight support, manufacturability, and visual cohesive.
Introversive Cats
Introverted cats tend to be sensitive to changes in their environment. They often seek enclosed or dark spaces that provide a sense of security, such as under the bed or inside cabinets.
From sketch to final direction, I tested from manufacture and structural aspects then found out that the back leg requires smaller angle to fully support a human's weight
Communicating with Furniture Factory in China, we figure out the building structure.
The steel bridge is laser-cut and CNC-bent, then mechanically fastened it to the ash wood pieces using threaded inserts. The same construction method is applied to the chair base. Then foam is applied with fabric to complete the seating surface.
Real Scale Prototype
