A Ron Arad sofa may fetch up to 80,000 pounds ($159,000) at a London sale this week that aims to tap demand for “design art.”

The steel work looks amazing — just don’t sit in it. “If you’re sitting on a polished metal sofa with rivets on your jeans you have to be careful,” said Ben Williams, a design specialist at Phillips de Pury .

“Sitting on these pieces tends to be reserved for special occasions. They’re usually just looked at as a sculptural element in the room.” […]

Other objects at the April 24 sale of 246 lots also blur the line between design and art. A carbon-fiber table by Australian- born Marc Newson may fetch up to 200,000 pounds.

Phillips’s inaugural design sale in London, at its new Howick Place auction rooms, has a total estimate of 1.4 million pounds to 2 million pounds. Via bloomberg