Joeri reynaert
Lowlife revises our sleeping environment and infuses it with active engagement. In our pursuit to seek comfort within our home environment, we seem to have sacrificed movement and posture. Lowlife easily transforms your sleeping space to an active living space throughout the day. A sisal base with integrated backrest in combination with a floor bed, allows for flexible use. During the day the floor bed can easily be moved, freeing up space in your home for a work out or relaxing, closer to the floor.​
Although Lowlife is designed to adapt to our modern needs and lifestyles, it does draw inspiration from eastern cultures and is an evolution of the Tatami, invented in Japan thousands of years ago. It eliminates all the non-essentials to prevent us from stagnating into rigid, unhappy and immovable lives. Reverting to the floor can benefit not only your hip mobility but also your lower back, spinal health and blood circulation.
On top of that Lowlife aims to challenge the traditional and polluting matrass industry by offering the first 100% biodegradable sleeping solution. Everyday, more than 50,000 polymer-based mattresses are discarded in landfills by the United States alone, with only 5% of them being recycled. The compact size of Lowlife was purposely designed to facilitate a more nomadic way of living. Its flexible and organic sisal base can be rolled up for convenient transportation to your next location, rather than buying yet another bed and matrass.
The Lowlife bed system is comprised of 3 components, a natural sisal floor mat base, a plywood headboard and a purposely designed floor bed that can be used separately. To combat floor moisture and cold draft, the bottom of the floor bed features cork fabric lined channels, filled with cork granulate. This helps insulate and elevate the sleeping surface. Additionally, the soft cork granulate its natural properties make it resistant to moisture, mould, and mildew due to the presence of suberin, a waxy substance found in cork. The floor bed is filled with cotton layers sandwiching a natural Talalay latex layer for bounce and support. The result is an uncompromising and 100% biodegradable sleeping solution.
The essential aesthetics and natural color pallet will make it a perfect match for any minimalist bedroom. This project was characterized by its emphasis on experimentation and exploration of natural materials and colors. One notable aspect of the materials used is the scent of the granulated cork embedded in the floor bed. Our test group described it as the sensation of sleeping in the midst of a forest.
Co designed by:
Produced by:
Year:
Photographer:
Models:
Material:
Dimension:
Arne Maes / Joeri Reynaert
LayLo (USA)
2022
ChenHua Studio
Angelo Roncoroni / Xiya Jing / Agnes Hsiung
cork fabric / cork granulate / cotton / sisal / plywood
sisal base: w 1400 – 1900 / d 2300 / h 450
floor bed w 1000 – 1500 / d 2000 / h 120