Cari chair by Arper in an American boardroom

Where work and hospitality overlap: the Cari chair

Arper

Doshi Levien

Meeting room chair
Cari Meeting room chair
$ 4,211

What did you have in mind?

Trade terms for professionals and design studios

The line between an office and a hotel lobby has been dissolving for a decade, and furniture has been slow to admit it. Cari was drawn for exactly that overlap: Arper positions it for meeting rooms — as a conference chair — and executive offices as much as for lobbies and lounges, and its designers say plainly that it moves away from the rigidity usually associated with office seating.

The practical consequence for an American workplace is one specification instead of three. The same shell serves the boardroom on a five-star base with casters, the meeting room on a four-star base with glides, and the reception seating area as a lounge chair. Recycled and recyclable polypropylene shell, polyurethane padding assembled without glue, a hidden zip for the cover. Designed by Doshi Levien in 2026 and supplied in the US by La Mercanti, samples and drawings first.

Technical information based on data declared by the manufacturer.

Collection: Cari
Manufacturer: Arper
Design: Doshi Levien, 2026
Declared settings: meeting rooms, executive offices, lobbies and lounges
Versions: cocktail lounge chair on 4-star aluminium base with glides; boardroom meeting chair on 4-star base with glides; boardroom meeting chair on 5-star aluminium base with casters
Shell: recycled and recyclable polypropylene, with integrated armrests
Padding: soft polyurethane, assembled without the use of glue
Cover: hidden zip allows removal and replacement
Components: plastic shell, metal and plastic plate, metal base, plastic feet
End of life: designed for complete material separation

La Mercanti USA Llc — your partner for Italian design and contract supply.
Los Angeles, CA, USA · +1 855 335 8079 · info@lamercanti.us
Supply, quotes, specifications and project support across the United States and North America.

Documents and Catalogs

Arper News Catalogue Arper Catalogue Arper Case Studies Cari CAD & 3D Files

Let us know which finishes you'd like to explore

$ 180

Credited in full toward your purchase

FAQ

Can one chair really serve a boardroom and a lobby?
Arper specifies exactly that, listing meeting rooms and executive offices alongside lobbies and lounges. What makes it work is that the base changes while the shell does not: the boardroom gets casters or glides, the lounge gets glides, and the visual language stays consistent from the elevator lobby to the conference room.
What does it do differently from a task chair?
It is not a task chair and does not pretend to be one. There is no mechanism language here; the comfort comes from an enveloping shell with integrated padding, which is why the designers describe it as stepping away from the rigidity of office seating.
Does using the same chair everywhere look monotonous?
Used in numbers the chair is described as creating spatial rhythm rather than repetition, and the three configurations plus the choice of cover give a project room to vary. Coordinated is not the same as identical.
What is the shell made of?
Recycled and recyclable polypropylene, designed for complete material separation at end of life. The padding is polyurethane, assembled without glue, and the cover comes off via a hidden zip.
How are finishes confirmed for a US project?
On the manufacturer's current documentation, which La Mercanti supplies with samples before anything is ordered. Delivery times are confirmed in writing at order confirmation.

How to specify one seating family across a whole floor

Five steps when the boardroom, the lounge and reception share a language.

Start with the rooms, not the chair
List every space that needs seating before choosing anything for one of them.
Assign bases room by room
Casters where people move, glides where they do not, lounge base where they wait.
Vary the cover, keep the shell
Coordination survives a change of textile; it does not survive a change of shape.
Plan the reception first
It sets the impression the rest of the floor either confirms or contradicts.
Get samples in the actual light
La Mercanti sends covers and technical data before the specification is locked.

You May Also Like