Tembo Stool

Playful? That's the point. The Tembo stool is a riff on children's toys and African tomtoms. The name Tembo means elephant foot in Swahili: "When elephants walk, they always have at least one foot on the ground. They don't run. Because of their straight legs and large pad-like feet, elephants can stand for very long periods of time without getting tired," observe the folks behind design collective Note Design Studio, who finally found a producing partner for Tembo with new design house La Chance.If there's also something colorfully, quirkily Nordic to Tembo, too, that's because Note Design Studio hail from Sweden. A collective of architects, graphic, interior and product designers that formed in 2008, the group's name refers "to note something" or "to get noted." Well, we certainly noted their maiden outing in furniture design with Tembo, part of La Chance's premiere collection called Jekyll & Hyde.We zeroed in on La Chance's colorful exhibition inside the railway hall of Milan's National Museum of Science and Technology at the 2012 Salone. They were part of Tom Dixon's MOST, a 5-building showcase of new generation design.Paris-based La Chance emphasizes furniture, lighting and rugs with a "strong personality" made from "noble, durable and natural materials" and all in "European human-size facilities" La Chance is also entrepreneur Jean-Baptiste Souletie and architect Louise Breguetbeen, who got together in life and work because of, well, la chance! The French duo have lived in India and China; designed offices in London and built homes in Haiti; and have lent their know-how to established luxury companies and start-ups firms.