Dutch designer Joris Laarman was only three years out of Design Academy Eindhoven when his 2006 Bone chair became an instantaneous icon. Laarman designed the chair using data-driven modeling software that simulates the natural growth of patterns from bones and trees, highly efficient structures that redistribute their mass at specific points in response to physical stress, creating an ultra‐strong chair with a minimum of material. Laarman’s application of synthetic biology to this piece established him as an experimental pioneer at the vanguard of emergent digital design practices. The work is on view at our #PhillipsNYC galleries ahead of the Design Auction on 7 June.