Zilla is an experimental lounge chair made from a composite construction of materials that include glass, aluminium and epoxy. Diplomat have used a ‘continuous craft’ process that leaves visible construction marks. Its part of a production approach that leverages Ashley & Matthew’s making experience to produce short edition collector pieces.

“The usual way of working with composites is to hide all the skill and craft behind a perfect mould made synthetic surface. We wanted to turn the surface inside out and expose the making process as part of the surface finish.” Zilla is constructed with lightweight organic freeform sections without moulds, ensuring each chair is different.

Anisotropic materials (strengths in certain directions) like composites, are ripe for exploring skilful construction as they require empirical knowledge gained through experimentation and by the nature of the materials, allow finishes and shapes that are not possible through the usual mass production methods using isotropic materials (uniform strength in every direction) like plastics and metals.

The chair has a deliberate contradiction in that it appears soft, wet and heavy yet its lightweight with a hard surface. It visually references a range of sources from military life jackets through to industrial ducting and even reptilian forms (Godzilla!).

Design Ashley Hall & Matthew Kavanagh