Doraff: The Playful Seat that will Spark Children's Imagination

Doraff by Alessi is more than a seat, it’s a way of educating. Discover how a “simple” seat can expand a child's creativity and imagination while transmitting responsibility and civilisation.

Ben van Berkel, a dutch architect, inspired by the scope of children’s imagination and how they see the world around them, created a playful seat, a cutlery set and a tableware for the Italian brand Alessi.

The Doraff seat is a new type of playful furniture but it’s also a modern piece of art that enriches a living or dining room. This seat, inspired by the elephant created by the American designers Charles and Ray Eames, combines the shapes of a dog and a giraffe in a versatile and multifunctional object for children, inviting them to use and expand their imagination.

So Doraff can be anything children imagine: a table, a seat, a chaise longue, a “helping hand” to reach high places... a giraffe to ride or a dog to play with, or simply a place to play, read and eat. Above all, Van Berkel wanted to ensure that there wasn’t a fixed, predetermined purpose for the structure: A child can picture a giraffe or a dog, or some sort of fictional hybrid of the two, but in reality, they’re projecting these ideas into a three-dimensional object. It’s their imagination at work, says the architect, 2020.

This structure then focuses on helping children to think as designers about the objects around them, where any piece of furniture can be a toy and many toys can serve a functional purpose with some creativity.

Despite the playfulness of these objects, they also carry with them a serious message: they’re meant to demonstrate to children that they’re equally important within the family, a position that brings some responsibilities such as civilised table manners.

Many kids often have separate menus and utensils, so no wonder they don’t feel like they can eat the same food adults eat, or participate in the conversation around the table, says van Berkel, 2020.

The sturdy Doraff seat is made of 100% recyclable thermoplastic resin and is available in several colours. If you were curious, at In&Out Cooking you can find these products and others made by the same architect.

A day without imagination and fun is a day wasted.
Happy Children’s Day!