A brake-formed lounge chair in .188-inch 5052 aluminum alloy with full-grain leather, by Salt Lake City designer George Davies

GD-LC2 is a lounge chair by George Davies Studio, formed from .188-inch 5052 aluminum alloy sheet using a brake press. The 5052 alloy is an industrial-grade material more commonly found in marine applications and architectural panels than in domestic furniture, chosen for its structural properties rather than any association with high-end material. The brake-forming process bends the flat sheet into angular planes without welding or joining, so the chair's geometry is a direct record of what the manufacturing process does to the material.

Each fold in the aluminum is both structural and visual. The angular planes hold the chair's form and carry the load of use, while making the means of construction visible in the finished object. The surface remains raw: the industrial character of the alloy is not softened or disguised. Davies's practice is grounded in this approach, using Bauhaus-era material thinking as a reference point for letting process determine form rather than imposing a separate aesthetic over it.

Full-grain leather elements are set into the aluminum frame. The contrast is direct: the metal is rigid, cool, and precisely formed; the leather is soft, warm, and develops character with use. The 2 materials do opposite things, and the chair's particular quality comes from how directly that opposition is stated rather than resolved. GD-LC2 is the second lounge chair in Davies's ongoing series.