You’re boarding a five-hour flight when you see your seat for the first time. It’s stacked two-high, like a bunk bed. The flight attendant urges you to relax, reminding you that the design has more legroom than any coach seat you’ve ever sat in. But as you slide in, you realize that your face is just inches from the seat on top of you.
The scene I’ve just described isn’t science fiction, it’s the most talked-about product out of Hamburg’s recent aviation design fair. The Chaise Lounge Economy Seat, developed by a 22-year-old industrial designer Alejandro Núñez Vicente, has spawned hot takes and memes all week, as the internet questions whether or not double-decker air travel is brilliant, or the last straw of late-stage capitalism.
To decide for myself, I joined Núñez Vicente virtually for a tour of his new seat design in Hamburg. And while I disagree with many of his ideas, I must admit, he’s boldly poking at some of the most sensitive and complex ideas in air travel. Read my story here.
— Mark Wilson | | |