Meet YPSILON – designed by Daniel Rybakken
One of the new products Vestre launches this February is the YPSILON bench, designed by Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken.
Daniel Rybakken is one of Europe's best-known award-winning designers. From his studio in Gothenburg, he creates designs, interiors, installations and prototypes for clients from around the world. Although he is Norwegian, he has never worked with a manufacturer from his home country before.
“I created this bench design way back in 2005 and have often thought about it over the years. Just before the summer of 2022, I contacted Vestre, and they fell for the concept immediately. After that, it was soon put into production,” says Rybakken, adding that the form of the bench has not changed since the very first model he sketched out.
For YPSILON, Daniel Rybakken had a very clear idea of both the form and concept right from the start. A bench with a simple, but very stable form, which does not give the impression of being visually large, yet at the same time offers a high level of comfort. YPSILON is both discrete and simple, yet at the same time instantly recognisable, thanks to its angled, linear and solid glulam slats, which rest on laser-cut, curved sheets of galvanised steel. The angled slats offer a number of functional benefits. These slats make the bench extremely comfortable to sit on, while the slope of the seat ensures that water runs off quickly and does not pool.
“The contrasts between the various materials that are used provide another point of interest, both between the steel and the glulam, and in the space between the slats on the seat. The bench is also testimony to what you can do with steel. Nothing in the main element of the base is welded. Instead, the steel is folded like a sheet of paper. This emphasizes the quality of both the steel and the wood. I enjoy experimenting with new forms, using traditional materials in a simple way and yet still creating something new,” says the designer.
Yet the simple and clear concept also necessitates a different approach to the manufacturing process. Rybakken believes it is more reminiscent of the manufacturing process for indoor furniture, where no detail is left to chance. For example, the steel legs pass through the feet of the bench and are welded to the bottom instead of the top of the feet. The precision in the way it is created also makes YPSILON equally well-suited to installation on a beautiful stone or marble indoor floor, as in a park, public square or other outdoor environment.
YPSILON is available in both straight and circular versions. It can also been supplied with both armrests and a back, as well as with a flexible metal table top.
YPSILON is supplied as standard in hot dip galvanized Swedish steel and Nordic pine sourced from sustainable forestry. It is available in 200 RAL colors and comes with a lifetime anti-rust guarantee.
Photos: Einar Aslaksen
