Designs of the Weird: Prickly Pear Chair

Crazy, cactus-shaped chairs walk the line between art and interior design.

The Prickly Pear Chairs by artist/designer Valentina Gonzalez Wohlers are some of the craziest looking seats we've seen in a while. Wohlers describes these chairs-turned-art-objects as "born out of the creative experience of a Mexican designer in Europe." She says, "The chairs juxtapose Mexican and European aesthetic values, incorporating the formal design elements and quirks of both to create a cultural blend."

Each chair's form is based on the classic Louis XV chair (Europe) and the Nopal cactus (Mexico). The chairs have bright pink wooden frames and green fabric upholstery with cactus spine-like hairs growing from the tufts. While on the one hand, these pink and green chairs are rather silly, Wohlers hopes they will also encourage reflection and acceptance of differences.

The chairs were first shown at Milan Design Week last year -- we'd be curious to know if they found their way into a home or a museum. Want to read about other unusual chairs? Take a gander at these ShelterPop posts:

- A super-mod rocking chair
- A dining chair made from children's building blocks
- A bar stool that looks like a peacock