What happens when a designer thinks not just about shapes, but about movement and gravity, and how to outsmart them? Andreas Ostwald is such a designer, creating spaces where both body and mind are set in motion. With the new Aeris Linu, he, together with Dietlind Walger and her team, has developed a chair that doesn't stand still, but rather sways along – with life, with its occupant, with time.
About Andreas Ostwald – The Man Behind the Form
Andreas Ostwald is no ordinary designer – he is a true “creator” in the actual sense of the word. “For me, the term ‘design,’ after being used so hyperbolically, is dead – gone,” he says. Instead, he prefers to speak of shaping, giving form, and conceiving.
His passion for design began in childhood: As a ten-year-old, he nailed broomsticks onto tree trunks, stretched a rope between them, and thus constructed his first dynamic seating arrangements at a young age. Later, he designed a rocking chair, for which he – much to his parents' annoyance – drilled irreparable holes in the ceiling.
One thing was clear to Ostwald from the very beginning:
Stagnation is not an option.
Andreas Ostwald, designer of the new Aeris Linu office and conference chair.
After training as a ceramic model maker, which shaped his sensibility for forms, he studied design in Kiel, where he first crossed paths with Dietlind Walger, product developer at Aeris. As a professor there, he taught methodology of the design process at the Muthesius Academy for 10 years, before he began teaching Integrated Design at the HFK Bremen in 2006.
Ostwald worked with Andreas Heller on exhibitions for brands like Montblanc and Swarovski, engineered for Burkhard Vogtherr, and eventually helped build the design department of Deutsche Telekom. A formative experience – and a turning point: “After that, it was clear to me: no corporate structures.” Since then, Ostwald has worked independently. Free, but never alone.
“The most beautiful thing about designing is the exchange with others.”
Since 2014, Andreas Ostwald has focused his design work in Hamburg on international projects and advises young start-ups. In doing so, he researches networked structures and analyzes the potential of three-dimensional imaging. His work has already received numerous renowned awards, including the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award.
Design Meets Attitude: Ostwald's Vision of Creation
For Andreas Ostwald, creation is not a trend, but an attitude. He sees design not as a matter of style, but as a cultural responsibility.
“Design is never just a language of form. Design is the form into which societal ideas are cast, depending on the available technologies and resources.”
– Andreas Ostwald, Designer and Creator of the Aeris Linu
Ostwald focuses on timeless design: durable forms, high-quality materials, and a minimalist style. His designs are often characterized by a balance of form and function. What is particularly important to him is: sustainability in the design language and reduction to the essential. What for others is a finished product, for him is a process. A framework of ideas that only fills with meaning through imagination and visualization.
Dietlind Walger and Andreas Ostwald with the Aeris Linu.
“Only with a well-developed capacity for imagination can the unimaginable be conceived.”
Ostwald's designs are intended to move – literally – physically and mentally. With the new office and conference chair Aeris Linu, he and the Aeris team have once again perfectly succeeded in doing just that: an office chair that doesn't simply stand still, but sets the body and mind in motion.
On the Origin of the Aeris Linu and the Collaboration
When the Aeris Linu project first emerged, it quickly became clear that the new chair should take the principle of movement to a new level. The aim was to create a seating experience that felt weightless – almost like floating. “The Linu is about nothing less than overcoming gravity,” says Ostwald. No small claim for a piece of furniture, but typical for a designer who enjoys exploring physical boundaries.
All Aeris chairs follow the idea of keeping the body in motion while sitting, instead of remaining in a rigid position. With the Aeris Linu, the team around Andreas Ostwald and Dietlind Walger has managed to elevate the unique Aeris motion technology to a new level.
Aeris Linu design team (from left to right): Dietlind Walger, Torsten Teschner, and Andreas Ostwald.
Originally, the seat was intended to rest on four movable arms, but the prototypes were not yet completely convincing. The decision to cross the arms scissor-like then represented the breakthrough: This innovative and patented mechanism enables a particularly dynamic and free seating experience that makes the Aeris Linu so unique.
“In this position, the body has dynamic, not static, support,” Ostwald describes the effect.
More on the creation of the Aeris Linu here:
A Look Behind the Scenes – On the Creation of the Aeris Linu
What the Aeris Linu Boasts
Equipped with the advanced technology of the Aeris Numo Task, the Aeris Linu now provides a dynamic movement experience in all directions thanks to its Flex-Kinematics and unique spring leg. The design is minimalist yet well thought out: the narrow, tapering backrest offers stable support and maximum freedom of movement, while the ergonomically shaped back cushion with integrated lumbar support ensures long-lasting seating comfort.
The new Aeris Linu office and conference chair is not just another piece of design furniture – it is the logical continuation of the Aeris philosophy: movement instead of stagnation, posture instead of constraint, comfort through dynamism. Together with Andreas Ostwald, a chair has been created that elevates active sitting to a new emotional level. Or as Ostwald would describe the Linu in 3 words: “Sit and smile.”
