Outdoor Market: a collection of essential objects for inhabiting the outdoors with simplicity, designed by Jasper Morrison

In the current design landscape, where outdoor furniture often moves between formal spectacle and purely seasonal aesthetics, the Outdoor Market collection introduces a different perspective. Designed by Jasper Morrison for the Danish brand HAY, this series of objects offers a direct and functional approach to life outdoors, reaffirming the value of the essential.

The idea for the collection emerged when HAY’s founders, Mette and Rolf Hay, set out to extend their philosophy of democratic design to outdoor living, imagining a collection that would feel both familiar and fresh, inspired by the nostalgic practicality of classic camping equipment. They immediately thought of the renowned British designer Jasper Morrison. “For us, Jasper is the master of everyday objects. He has an incredible ability to make the ordinary feel essential,” say Mette and Rolf Hay, founders and creative directors of HAY.

The collection was thus conceived with the aim of recovering the practical and everyday character of outdoor furniture. Morrison draws inspiration from the logic of open-air markets — lightweight structures, easily transportable elements and pieces designed for immediate use — to develop a set of objects that respond with simplicity and naturalness to the needs of contemporary outdoor life.

Rather than proposing monumental or permanent furniture, Outdoor Market offers a series of elements that accompany the use of outdoor space with lightness and flexibility. Tables, benches, chairs, stools and trolleys are combined with accessories such as parasols, trays and containers, forming a small ecosystem of objects designed for gathering, eating or simply spending time outdoors.

The formal language follows the British designer’s characteristic approach: clear structures, balanced proportions and a deliberately restrained aesthetic. The pieces avoid any superfluous gesture in order to focus on what truly matters — stability, durability and ease of use. Instead of seeking visual prominence, the objects integrate naturally into gardens, terraces or patios, becoming a quiet support for everyday life.

Materials and finishes reinforce this intention. Weather-resistant surfaces, lightweight metal structures and easily handled components allow the pieces to adapt to different contexts, from a balcony at home to a shared outdoor space. Everything follows a logic of durability and simplicity that has characterised Morrison’s work since his earliest projects.

In this sense, the collection continues the design philosophy that Morrison has defended throughout his career. The objects in Outdoor Market could easily be associated with his well-known idea of the Super Normal: pieces that seek to function with clarity and accompany daily life with discretion.

The result is a collection that understands the outdoors as a natural extension of domestic space. Outdoor Market proposes a set of quiet tools for inhabiting open air with the same naturalness with which we occupy the interiors of our homes.

In this way, the collaboration between Jasper Morrison and HAY once again places design in its most fertile territory: that of well-considered objects capable of improving everyday life without demanding attention. Because, as Morrison himself often reminds us, the best design is usually the one that fulfils its function so naturally that we barely notice it.

Project: Outdoor Market Collection.
Brand: Hay.
Design: Jasper Morrison.
Completed: 2025.

Jasper Morrison

Jasper Morrison (London, 1959) is one of the most influential designers of his generation. Over more than four decades of practice, he has developed a body of work that champions formal clarity, usefulness and discretion as essential values of contemporary design. His objects, conceived for everyday life, are characterised by a quiet presence and a functional precision that allows them to integrate naturally into the domestic environment.

He studied at Kingston Polytechnic Design School in London, where he received a Bachelor of Design in 1982, and later at the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1985. During these years he also spent time at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin, an experience that helped consolidate his interest in modern European design and in an aesthetic grounded in simplicity and functionality.

In 1986 he founded his Office for Design in London, the studio from which he has developed projects in furniture, lighting, electronics and household objects for some of the most important companies on the international design scene. Throughout his career he has collaborated with firms such as Vitra, Cappellini, Flos, Magis, Alessi, Emeco, Camper, Hermès, Muji, Samsung and Punkt., gradually expanding his work across different fields of industrial design.

From his earliest projects — including the Thinking Man’s Chair, presented in 1985 — Morrison has defended a conception of design far removed from the spectacular gesture. His work is directed towards objects that fulfil their function with clarity and naturalness, avoiding any formal excess. This approach crystallised in the concept of “Super Normal”, developed together with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa, which celebrates the quiet beauty of well-resolved objects: those that, rather than seeking to stand out, discreetly accompany everyday life.

Pieces designed by Jasper Morrison form part of the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, recognition of a body of work that has helped redefine the relationship between design, material culture and daily life.

Rather than pursuing a recognisable aesthetic, Morrison has gradually built a way of thinking about design grounded in the honesty of the object. His work proposes a calm relationship with the things that surround us and reminds us that, in many cases, the best design is the one that integrates so naturally into our lives that we barely notice it.

Project by Jasper Morrison