Con­tem­po­rary art and design is often thought of as removed from our dai­ly exis­tence. Its mean­ing or func­tion can be dif­fi­cult to grasp in prac­ti­cal terms. Fur­ni­ture is no excep­tion. Design­ers and artists use dif­fer­ent mate­ri­als, struc­tures and treat­ments to push the lim­its of expres­sion and inno­va­tion. The divide between nature and human­i­ty can be ampli­fied in this process. How­ev­er, at the 2011 Inter­na­tion­al Con­tem­po­rary Fur­ni­ture Fes­ti­val in New York City, a dif­fer­ent trend emerged.