Nicholas Tilma's 'Quirky' Habitat Lounger Featured in 1st Dibs
Nicholas Tilma, Habitat Lounger, 2023. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo by George P Perez.
Detroit-based designer Nicholas Tilma’s (MFA 3D Design 2023) Habitat Lounger was featured in 1st Dibs’ Obsession of the Week. Axel Getz described the lounger as “a striking, confounding and utterly captivating amalgamation — a chair that functions as a complete, self-contained habitat.”
The all-in-one effect of the lounger is Tilma’s goal for the piece, first presented in the 2023 Graduate Degree Exhibition of Cranbrook Academy of Art at Cranbrook Art Museum. While its structure is industrial pipe, the lounger maintains a whimsical, natural impression through hand-carved wood, grounding stone elements, and organic shapes.
Nicholas Tilma, Space Rock Landing Craft Table Light. 19.5 x 15 x 15 inches. Steel, aluminum, PLA, epoxy clay, acrylic, LED, wiring. Courtesy of the Artist.
Tilma is currently represented by DUDD HAUS, a gallery known for showcasing “radical design.” Tilma’s Space Rock Landing Craft Table Light was shown in DUDD HAUS x Blu Dot’s 2025 NYC Design Week exhibition, This is Not a Strut, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the iconic Strut Table with Strut-inspired works and curated by Chris Held, co-founder of design-based exhibition platform JonaldDudd. Fellow Academy alumnus Mark Dineen (MFA 3D Design 2013) is also represented by DUDD HAUS and showcased a solid bronze filing unit in the same exhibition.
He is participating in the upcoming “Objects, Sofas, Waffles” ArtClvb X Floyd Sale this November 21-23, 2025. He is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture and Community Development.
Learn more:
Nicholas Tilma’s Habitat Lounger is a Quirky, All-in-One Reading Nook – 1st Dibs
Emerging designers riff on Blu-Dot’s Strut Table for its 20th birthday – Dezeen
