No more front or back: The new sofa no longer has a direction
8.9.2026
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Pia Seidel
For a long time, every sofa had a fixed hierarchy: a front, a best seat. At Copenhagen Design Week, the opposite is on display: models that no longer dictate a direction for anyone to look.
Every classic sofa has a front, thereby focusing on an implicit center point: the television, the fireplace, the host. Those sitting in the middle benefit the most. This year's "3daysofdesign" in Copenhagen shows how this principle is dissolving: new models no longer dictate a direction of view at all. Everyone sits as equals – even those looking in the completely opposite direction.
No seat is the "best" anymore
This is made possible by S-shaped or island-like floor plans. Movable backrests can be adjusted independently of one another. The result: one person reads, another watches TV, a third chats, yet everyone is sitting on the same piece of furniture. The sofa becomes a surface that adapts to people instead of the other way around.
The examples from Copenhagen
The model "Trace Modular," designed by Tableau for the Italian manufacturer Secolo, demonstrates this novel concept most consistently. The modular sofa consists of flowing, organic shapes with movable backrests and reaches up to ten meters in length in its monumental version. It was presented in the installation "The Drawing Room" at the Tableau Gallery as a further development of the "Trace" sofa from Milan Design Week 2026.
Mdf Italia is also pursuing this idea with "Array" – originally developed for the contract sector, it is now also available as an outdoor version. The modules can be combined freely and are made of recycled materials. There is deliberately no predetermined "main side." "Array" was on display as part of "Design / Dialogue," curated by Ark Journal magazine, at the Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art.
Somewhat more restrained, but following the same principle, is the "Rope Sofa" from Normann Copenhagen, designed by Hans Hornemann. The gently curved silhouette with subtle piping can be arranged flexibly. It was on display in the brand's showroom in Copenhagen.
From micro-trend to a real living need
In 2024, curved sofas were primarily about aesthetics: soft shapes instead of sharp edges. In 2025, freestanding placement in the room was added. 2026 now provides the social consequence of this: if a sofa is no longer against the wall but in the middle of the room, it no longer makes sense for everyone to have to look in one direction.
In my opinion, the "boss seat" in front of the TV was always more of a snapshot of post-war living room culture than a law of nature for sitting. The fact that furniture is now actively dissolving this hierarchy turns a pretty design gimmick into a real statement about living together on equal terms. This is exactly what gives the micro-trend the potential to become a permanent part of contemporary living.
These models bring you closest to the principle
Ten-meter seating islands with freely movable backrests remain rare at Galaxus for the time being. However, the principle can also be replicated with models from the range. The following sofas are not as radical as the designs from Copenhagen, but they work with the same building blocks: modular elements, curved shapes without a clear front. This allows you to furnish a living room where not everyone is forced to look at the same thing.
Header image: Pia Seidel
Pia Seidel
Senior Editor
Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.chLike a cheerleader, I celebrate good design and bring you closer to everything furniture- and interior design-related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior finds, track down trends and interview creative minds about their work.
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