Sitting on Tofu

Tofu is a soy-based food typical of Asian cuisine, rich in protein, known and appreciated especially by vegetarians and vegans. We already know this. What we didn't know is that, if dehydrated, tofu also becomes a good material to build furniture. 

The Italian designer Leonardo Talarico, recently included among Italy's 15 most talented young artists, pulled tofu out of the kitchen and used it to make a chair, the Tofu Chair. The chair, called an “ideal vegetarian throne”, is made of several layers of dried tofu, previously exposed to a thermal shock to turn them into a very durable, eco-friendly material. The final touch is a coat of natural color to give the chair a finished look.

Tofu Chair shows us that food is more than just a culinary delicacy, but an inspiring medium for innovative industrial designs. It makes us think  that we have plenty of possible materials to use to create something new and unexpected.