Joe Parr
is a Detroit-based industrial designer exploring the relationship between designed objects and our behavior.
Through his practice Parr challenges the assumptions with which we use objects and interact with our environments, driven by the belief that in re-directing how we think about furniture and design we can re-define how it functions.
After working as an in-house designer for both Steelcase and Herman Miller, Parr completed his MFA at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2019, creating his thesis collection, PlaySetting, which quickly garnered attention from the likes of dezeen. Inspired by playground equipment, each piece in PlaySetting is designed to activate the body and encourage social interaction rather than follow standard typologies that meet the needs of the individual - ‘Chair’ is for sitting, a ‘Sofa’ is for rest …
