#10 Stage 5 - Prototype

INTRODUCTION

Hi, I’m Lillian Fernandes. I am an Interior Design student and Furniture Design as an elective subject was a huge learning curve. 

As an interior designer we are taught to concentrate on refining our designs to often reflect clean flowing continuous lines maintaining a uniformed design language, however this was all in relation to space occupied by or that interacted with people. In designing a chair it was about understanding how an element within a space had  direct contact with the human body. While I approached this subject with the same value as an interior design project I had to find solutions through the unexpected challenges it posed.

 BACKGROUND INSPIRATION

My inspiration originated during the task on studying 3 architectural projects. I was drawn immediately to the angles and curves of the elegant pillars within the Gare de Lyon station by Santiago Calatrava. As I went through the concept design process I tried to understand the structural qualities of that profile and emulate it in the design concepts.

SELECTING MATERIALS

The main criteria to selecting materials were that they would do justice to the design, easy to source, work with and assemble. Various materials were proposed along the way such as solid timber, pipe, flat bar, mesh.

However I found in trying to accommodate those materials and I was veering away from the original design language I had set out to convey through this chair - Which was clean continuous line, strength in the design and lightness in its visual sense.

WHAT I LEARNT

As I refined the design I learnt about human comfort, load transfer, strength of materials, furniture joints and especially incorporating working elements neatly for example the back-support joint on the chair, which transformed over the weeks…

There was a lot I realised that didn’t work for example Steel Welding was way too messy for the clean crisp finish the design required and next time I would replace it with Fusion Weld to achieve a sleeker profile on the design of this chair.

Also while at the moment the chair does promote good posture and is comfortable, I would consider recessing the back-support plates within the backrest slats, as the 8mm width of the steel plate does compromise the fine angle of additional comfort for a seated person. 

ASSEMBLY

The chair fits in a 500x500 box and comes in two parts. It can be assembled easily and very quickly on site. It only requires 2x Inter-screw connector to be screwed in place, to attach the backrest to the seat. A cross-screw driver and an Allen-key can easily secure it.

A point to note is the design of the Inter-screw connector was suggested by the bolts specialist as being vandal proof especially if it’s being used in a cafe.

MIX OF MATERIALS AND LOGISTICS TO ASSEMBLE

There were two materials used in making the chair. Laser cutting was used to fabricate all the components as a degree of precision was required to achieve the finesse of the design.

Some profiles were outsourced due to limitations at the university workshop. The steel and 20mm plywood were outsourced to 2 different laser-cutters.

However once all the components came together they were easy to assemble.

  

 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Plywood is considered as an environmentally friendly material and an alternative to solid timber.

Stainless steel, whilst it does have a heavier manufacturing footprint, it has excellent properties of strength, weight and longevity. It was used not only as a structural element in the chair but also aesthetically it adds a certain quality and ‘grounds’ the chair.

IN CLOSING

This chair can easily be mass produced. It conveys quality and elegance. It is not heavy nor is it light. It is compact enough for easy transportation and is space efficient on the floor of a café. It is stable and strong and will withstand rough cafe handling. Most importantly the design provides appropriate comfort for café patrons...