Born and raised in China (1989) and educated in the United States and Switzerland. Hongchao graduated from ECAL Master of Design for Luxury & Craftsmanship under the tuition of Nicolas Le Moigne, Thilo Brunner, Jaime Hayon, and Bethan Wood. Hongchao co-founded his design practice Benwu Studio with designer Peng You (RCA) in NYC since 2012, with a set of successful collaborations with clients such as Hermes, Vacheron Constantin, Cassina, Isabel Marant, Mini, Baccarat, BMW, Berluti, Swarovski, Cartier, Perrier Jouet, Remy Martin, Martell, Lane Crawford, Nestle, SKP, Xander Zhou, Descente and Nike. Besides running his practice, he is one of the senior founding members of the Industrial Design Department of XJTLU with publications in Books and Magazines by Phaidon, Laurence King, AD, Elle Décor, ICON, Wallpaper, IDEAT, and Dwell. Hongchao’s art & design works have left traces in Museums and Galleries such as the V&A(SZ), UCCA, Powerhouse Sydney, Museum für Angewandte Kunst of Leipzig, Barcelona Design Museum. Hongchao is Listed by CNN as one of 5 names that Changed the Chinese design context and also listed as top 100 young asian talent by the british Magzine Taltler.

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.