Ear Sofa by St Ely for Lerival
Product news: Montreal-based designers St-Ely have created a sofa made up of three interchangeable modules with sliced-off corners.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_14b.jpg)
St-Ely is a collaboration between industrial designer Eugenie Manseau and architect Hubert Pelletier. The seating has been launched by Lerival, an American design house that connects furniture design with architecture.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_3.jpg)
The design was inspired by the comfortable, angled back of old 1920s and 1930s couches and combined with the orthogonal rigidity of contemporary furniture.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_4.jpg)
Folding the ends of each module creates an angle between the back and sides, which the designers liken to ears.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_13sq.jpg)
"Most modular sofas are a continuous piece sliced up," Pelletier said to Dezeen. "We wanted to subtly stress the idea of the individual units and the act of combining these units together."
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_10sq.jpg)
"The fold at each end is the dominant detail of the design and creates a repetitive motif when many units are assembled," he continued.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_2sq.jpg)
A key consideration for St-Ely was the impact of the piece on the surrounding space: "A large piece of furniture like a sofa can be used to articulate the architectural space, divide rooms and underline functional transitions in space."
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_1.jpg)
"We think the back view is as important as the front or side view. By expressing the fold on the back side we created a formal detail that is coherent with the front view and that animates the back side," Pelletier added.
![Ear Sofa by St Ely Ear Sofa by St Ely](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/11/dezeen_Ear-Sofa-by-St-Ely_6.jpg)
More modular seating we have featured on Dezeen includes triangular sofas that tesselate to create different forms within a space and a modular seating system that encourages interaction between people.