Backflip Chair by Gudmundur Ludvik
A good chair first, a folding chair second. At first glance, Backflip Chair reads as a conventional wooden dining chair – clean lines, honest use of materials, understated in a distinctly Scandinavian way. Then the backrest rotates, and the chair folds in one motion – the mechanism hidden where you wouldn't typically look, resolving a tension this typology has carried for decades.
For Icelandic designer Gudmundur Ludvik, that problem was personal. 'Folding chairs have long represented a unique challenge for me,' he says. 'They are objects full of inherent conflict, where functionality often comes at the expense of aesthetics, comfort, or both.' Backflip, his first design for HAY, is his answer.
'It was essential to me that it should not feel like secondary seating or something of lesser value,' says Ludvik.
Rolf Hay, Co-founder & Creative Director of HAY Furniture & Lighting, saw the quiet ingenuity in Ludvik's solution from the outset. 'Looks can be deceiving,' says Hay. 'There's something intelligent and original behind it. If you can combine simplicity with originality, that's when you really get something powerful.'
Gudmundur Ludvik
Form is not a starting point here, but a result – beauty emerging from the resolution of a technical problem, with functional elements becoming aesthetic expression. Crafted in solid wood with a moulded plywood backrest, Backflip is available in natural beech and a range of water-lacquered coloured finishes, moving easily from a dining room to a conference hall without ever feeling like a temporary measure.
A matching wall bracket, available in black or natural wood finish, holds one or two folded chairs securely on any wall – ready to be brought back into use whenever needed.
Gudmundur Ludvik
About Gudmundur Ludvik
Gudmundur Ludvik (b. 1970) is an Icelandic designer based in Vejle, Denmark. He trained as a carpenter and cabinetmaker before studying sculpture at the Icelandic Academy of Arts and furniture design at the Danish Design School, graduating in 2002. His practice spans craft, art and design, grounded in Scandinavian woodworking traditions and a deep understanding of material. He works in a process-led way, exploring the relationship between simplicity and complexity, and refining ideas into clear, well-resolved objects. Today, he runs his own studio, creating furniture and objects defined by material clarity, functional integrity and considered construction. For HAY, Gudmundur Ludvik has designed the Backflip Chair.
