In celebrating the simple, could the P.Y.R. chair be just as valuable and worth protecting as more complex designs?
Some designs are meticulously planned, others evolve through trial and error, but few emerge as organically as David Ericsson’s so-called ‘Protect Your Rights’ chair, or P.Y.R. Born out of a lesson in proper construction technique for his children using leftover materials in his backyard, and later embraced by Sweden’s Blå Station, P.Y.R. is a piece that represents the unexpected journey of creativity – and offers a quiet but powerful commentary on authenticity in design.
The P.Y.R. chair was never meant to be a product. “I built it from leftover materials because I didn’t know what to do with them,” Ericsson recalls. “Then my kids painted it.” What began as a spontaneous experiment soon caught the attention of Johan Lindau, Blå Station’s CEO, who saw its potential and insisted that it deserved production.
The early prototype was a mishmash of materials – birch, beech, pine – all cut in different sizes. But in refining it for manufacturing, the team decided to create a mono-material piece, using 15mm pine plywood throughout to give the chair a cohesive and honest presence. “It’s about making the most of a single sheet of plywood – cutting, glueing and assembling in the simplest way possible. And there is something revolutionary in that.”
Ericsson didn’t set out to make a political statement with this piece. “Designers in the furniture industry don’t have the same protections as music, literature or film: copying happens constantly, and we haven’t found a way to manage it properly,” he explains. The P.Y.R. chair – raw, unpolished and almost childlike in its simplicity – is a reflection of the value of originality in a world where imitation often reaps the rewards.
It’s also intentionally provocative. “There are so many ‘polite’ and ‘good’ products out there,” Ericsson says. “P.Y.R. is like a thorn in the side – you either love it or hate it. It frustrates people because it looks so naïve.” Its ability to provoke such a polarised reaction, he believes, is part of the beauty of the piece.
The P.Y.R. chair isn’t Ericsson’s first collaboration with Blå Station. Before the pandemic, he designed Pinzo, a solid pine chair with a similar ethos of simplicity and material honesty. He sees Blå Station as a company that consistently fosters fresh ideas, thanks in part to its commitment to younger designers. “They listen, they visit schools, they work with new talent – it’s what keeps the brand alive.”
In a way, the P.Y.R. chair is a paradox: its simplicity is what makes it complex. It challenges the idea of what furniture should look like, how it should be made and why it should exist at all. “In the end, it’s just a piece of wood, put together so you can sit on it. Or not,” Ericsson muses. “We’ll see what happens.”
Offering a fresh take on originality and a raw but refined aesthetic, the P.Y.R. chair is an unapologetic expression of design freedom. Whether it becomes a classic or remains a cult favourite, one thing is clear: it makes people think. And perhaps that’s exactly the point.
Images by Marcus Lawett
This story was originally featured in OnOffice 171, Summer 2025. Discover similar stories by subscribing to our weekly newsletter here
