Onsa Lounge Chair

A reclining chair with function and a particular aesthetic: the seat shell and armrests open up from the backrest like a flower. The soft, inviting upholstery, high back and height-adjustable padded seat create a beautiful feeling of relaxation and security. For dreaming, reading, watching TV, or listening to music – in private rooms or hospitality areas. The name Onsa – Japanese for tuning fork – refers to the shape of the frame. When you hit a tuning fork, a clear sound is produced, and that way the instrument is tuned and brought into balance.

Onsa is the result of a collaboration with Italian designer Mauro Lipparini: “My Japan whispers a quiet aesthetic of poetically balanced lines, its subtlety emboldened to express itself through materials – the driving force behind the Onsa Chair.” Whether you sit up straight, casually lie back in the chair or lie down cozily – your posture will always be right. The secret lies in the subtle softness of the upholstery and in the effortlessly adjustable backrest function. 

Mauro Lipparini’s designs draw on both his roots and his international life experience. Raised in the Renaissance city of Florence, he completed his degree in architecture there in 1980, and then lived and worked for multiple periods in Japan in the following years. Over the past three decades, from his design studio, Lipparini has worked on everything from furniture and textiles, to the interiors of private homes, showrooms and restaurants, to a high-rise building.

In Lipparini's essentialism, clear, vibrant lines combine with strong colors and organic textures to create original visual ideas. Mauro Lipparini designed the Onsa Chair for Walter Knoll to provide a sense of relaxation and harmony, softness and security. Shaped like a blossoming flower, it recalls the calm aesthetics of Japan. The Japanese traditions of the tea ceremony, Ikebana flower arranging, and ink painting inform Lipparini’s work.