Bed design is getting bigger, bolder, and more multifunctional. During NYCxDesign, Parisian design studio Uchronia introduced a round blossom-inspired bed in collaboration with Treca and Prelle, and hosted an artist talk from it. At Milan Design Week, artist Laila Gohar and Marimekko unveiled a giant communal bed installation, a hybrid hangout, nap zone, and trompe l’oeil cake, while Delvis Unlimited transformed its gallery window into a performance with a four-person bed by Espace Aygo, inspired by retro conversation pits. This past March, Swedish designer Gustaf Westman debuted the Loopy Bed in partnership with dating app Feeld, a space created for at least three where customized attachments allow video gaming, painting, karaoke singing, and more, all without leaving the sheets.
The concept is not quite as newfangled as it may seem. Beds have long served for more than just sleep. As the site of origin for seminal works, from Winston Churchill’s wartime missives to Frida Kahlo’s paintings, the bed has historically moonlighted as a place for working, creating, communing, and, even, eating, so it’s not surprising that contemporary artists and designers are rethinking the form and function of this staple piece of furniture. However, particularly in a culture where wellness routines, remote work, evolving relationship structures, and the ubiquity of screens blur public and private life, the bed is taking on a new—and expanded—role.
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Perhaps it’s easier for the bed to become a catchall command center when our lives are increasingly playing out on the small screen—its influence psychologically magnified by social media. To her 1.5 million TikTok followers,…