Core77

Stretched cowhide makes a great and durable seating surface, as seen in the iconic Wassily Chair. But as cool as the Wassily looks, anyone who's sat in one for, say, the length of Marcel Breuer's Whitney retrospective DVD knows that the chair can get a bit hot around the, er, nether regions.

Modern-day designer Franco Poli also chose cowhide for a seating surface, but he used lasers to precisely cut the leather into an aerated net that can support 350kg (772 lbs) without stretching; the result is his LOOM armchair, produced by Matteograssi, which has just today been awarded Australia's designEX Product Design Award. The free-breathing net surface is well-ventilated and comfortable even in unconventional positions; Poli describes it as "similar to a hammock [and] as comfortable as a chaise-lounge."

To learn more about designer Franco Poli, click here. Info on Matteograssi's upcoming Australian product launch is here, and the company's full product line is here.