![Ulu Group is a collection of sculptural furniture](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/01-ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-design-hero-852x479.jpg)
Ara Thorose's cylindrical furniture is based on the width of his thigh
Ulu Group is a collection of sculptural furniture by Armenian-American designer Ara Thorose made of cylinders with the circumference of a human thigh.
Thorose measured his own legs to produce the designs, which are made of steel and foam and upholstered in wool and silk.
![Thorose's cylindrical furniture is based on the width of his thigh](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_1-852x639.jpg)
The collection, which includes three chairs and a table, is the result of Thorose exploring the concept of a circle trapped inside a square.
"A circle is limitless, whereas a square is limited, so it's inherently problematic," the designer told Dezeen "Each form is a circle traversing the cube-like spaces held by furniture," he added.
"I used my thigh as the basis for the cylinders' circumference, humanising the abstract nature of the work."
![The collection is sculptural furniture](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_7-852x556.jpg)
All curved in shape, Ulu Group comprises Ulu Chair, a sloping orange chair, and Un, an ambiguously-shaped green stool.
A third chair, named Ulu Duo, is a two-seated, mauve-coloured version of Ulu Chair. Ulu Table is a dark brown side-table with a glass top.
![Ara Thorose used his thigh to guide the chairs' circumference](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x608.jpg)
Each piece of furniture is made of a curved steel frame that wrestles between a circular and a square shape.
"Ulu Group gets its name from the U-turns and L-turns that compose the line paths of each form," said Thorose.
"The U is an impression of a circle, and the L is an impression of a square. They partner up with a sense of compromise but also a harmony."
![Ulu Table has a glass top](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_4-852x542.jpg)
Thorose wrapped polyurethane foam around the steel frames to flesh out the cylindrical shapes.
Ulu Group is covered in a wool and silk-blend fabric designed especially for the collection. Thorose chose to add silk due to its subtle sheen which accentuates the furniture's contours in certain lighting.
![A close-up of the fabric's subtle sheen](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_9-852x507.jpg)
Thorose describes his design process as "game-based." Beginning with hand-built models, the designer refines the geometries of these small-scale maquettes by sketching their profiles.
These sketches then become full-scale pieces of furniture.
Ara Thorose is a Brooklyn-based designer. Ulu Group expands on Thorose's previous Soft Cylinders collection, a set of furniture that explores the power of cylindrical forms.
![The collection is three chairs and one table](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2021/03/ulu-group-by-ara-thorose-sculptural-furniture_dezeen_2364_col_10-852x587.jpg)
Thorose is not the first designer to use their body to draw their chair's dimensions.
Lithuanian designer Marija Puipaitė used the outline of her legs to design a trio of chairs called Embracing Touch, while British designer Laila Laurel created a pair of chairs shaped to encourage the sitter to spread their legs or keep them apart.
Photography is by Se Yoon Park.