What does comfort mean today? Snøhetta asked first

Most sofas begin with a sketch. This one began with a question — what does comfort actually mean today — and the studio that asked it is better known for opera houses than upholstery. Snøhetta is a transdisciplinary, dialogue-driven practice of some 250 people from 40 nations, working across architecture, landscape, interiors, art and product design from seven studios: Oslo, New York, Innsbruck, Paris, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

The answer became Array, the modular seating system they designed for MDF Italia — a brand La Mercanti specifies for the first room a visitor ever sees. In their own words, the collaboration came from a shared wish to overturn norms; you can sit on the result, and we can quote it.