Born in China in 1989 and educated in the United States and Switzerland, Hongchao graduated from the Master's program in Luxury and Craftsmanship Design at ECAL, studying under Nicolas Le Moigne, Thilo Brunner, Jaime Hayon, and Bethan Wood. Following stints at several renowned studios such as Stephen Burks, Soren Rose, and Fabrica, Hongchao co-founded his design practice, Benwu Studio, in New York with designer Peng You (RCA). In addition to running his design practice, he is also a senior founding member of the Industrial Design Department at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. CNN has recognized Hongchao as one of five names changing the design landscape in China, and he has been featured in British magazine Taltler's "T100 China New Generation Talent" list.

Founded in New York in 2012 by designers Wang Hongchao and Peng You, initially, the collaboration between these designers primarily focused on material experimentation and craft research. In 2015, they were joined by design partners, interior architects Ge Wei, Geng Penglong, and product designer Deng Qiyun; Tianma was added. Benwu Studio evolved into a multidisciplinary design practice with expertise in product, interior, and set design. Benwu also owns brands such as My Apartment, Benwu Edition, and Dignite. Both global and local, Benwu has three offices in Shanghai/Beijing/Shenzhen and comprises over 30 designers.

Material：teak wood,metal,leather
Size：1700*800*900mm

Eskimo Chaise Lounge is inspired by a handmade Inuit dog pull sled from the 18th century, where they used timber, steel and leather strings to create a vehicle that can support an individual and their cargo. I was quite surprised by how ergonomic and functional this type of sled design can be. Objects that have been fashioned by hand and aged for a long-time can give a sense of nostalgia and reassurance. I always want to be able to convey this shared sense of reliability and comfort to people when designing pieces, such as furniture. 

I have always had a strong appreciation for the skill, precision and effort in traditional Chinese wood joinery and western leatherwork techniques; it was always an obsession to combine good crafts and create derivatives of new things. The Eskimo is a unique piece. The Chaise structure is made of 5-axis CNC teak wood with a steel metal frame embedded inside to achieve a minimal support solution. The Lounge seat surface is handwoven by leather straps in a particular order, then fixed with brass screws.