Alcyone Standing Chair by Tetsuo Shibata |
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| DESIGN NAME: Alcyone PRIMARY FUNCTION: Standing Chair INSPIRATION: Inspiration for this project comes directly from my own experience of having worked in an office for many years and the adverse effect that had on my health and body. It is clinically proven that sitting for a long period of time without moving can lead to many medical ailments such as round back, peripheral edema, and swayback. I wanted to design a new type of chair that people could use in the office and the home that would allow them to keep their bodies moving while working at their desks. UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: In designing this product, he was hoping to maintain a good posture, keep his legs moving and to be able to use it as a standing chair in his office and home. His challenge was to design it with a backrest that accommodates people of all height and that they can use as a regular chair at their existing work space. It was also important to him that the seat be raised and lowered and twisted sideways while being seated. This allows the users to exercise their lower body and hip muscle regularly. OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The main advantage of this product is that it can be used both as a standing chair by raising the seat and as a conventional chair by lowering the seat. This is possible due to the use of high memory foam inside the removable cushion. The middle portion of the seat shell is rounded to give extra foam depth so that when a person lowers the seat to sit down, the compressed foam creates their own individualized seat. To move it, simply tilt it backward until castors engage and push forward. PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: I have worked at nights and on weekends on the design, a scale model, and a full-scale mock-up of this project since August 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland, finishing it in October 2019. Computer rendering of this project was started in late October 2019 and finished in late January 2020 in Baltimore. FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Furniture Design |
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Because the seat of this product is in somewhat of an upright position, the challenge was to design the frame to support it and to make it height adjustable. The idea of using a twisting metal frame came to me gradually after I experimented with the bent basswood and found it difficult to bend without compromising its structural integrity. The sinuous curve of the metal base frame came out of the need to have enough space for a person to sit and stand and to hold the seat. SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Frame width at widest portion of base is 813 mm. Frame width at lower back is 432 mm. Frame depth at base from ankle section to back of base is 559 mm. Frame depth from ankle section to back of push bar is 483 mm. Height of frame is 1067 mm. Width of seat is 508 mm. Width of backrest at its widest is 343 mm. Height from bottom of seat to top of backrest is 584 mm. Lowest variable seat height at center of seat is 584 mm. Highest variable seat height at center of seat is 864 mm. TAGS: sit, stand, bend, twist, stretch RESEARCH ABSTRACT: One important goal in coming up with the shape of this project was to simulate the quality and natural form of the human body as much as possible and to use the seat’s vertical and lateral movement as well as its performance to address some of the physical problems we all have while working at a desk. Much of my research involved talking to physical therapists, reading newspaper articles on health and science and books on both metals and plastics, and visiting local metal fabrication shops. CHALLENGE: The hardest part of the design process was developing a mechanism that would allow the seat to move up and down for height adjustment. I did many detailed sketches showing the weight transfer path from the seat to flexible prongs to steel cable to conduits and to the curving metal frame. A three inch scale model I built was extremely useful in designing the details of this mechanism as well as the shape of the metal frame itself and in incorporating them both functionally and aesthetically. ADDED DATE: 2020-02-25 21:20:00 TEAM MEMBERS (1) : IMAGE CREDITS: Tetsuo Shibata, 2019. |
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NAME: Tetsuo Shibata PROFILE: Tetsuo Shibata is a furniture designer and an architect whose work is a synthesis of diverse cultural arts and traditions as well as contemporary artistic styles he has experienced and acquired over the years. His furniture work has been exhibited in small galleries in three U.S. states and featured in woodworker’s publications. Although he uses eclectic forms and materials in his furniture design, a consistent theme runs through all his works – elevating a mundane object to an art form that everyone can enjoy. Innovative forms, use of simple materials and adaptability to space via various configurations characterize his works. He believes furniture is an integral part of people’s living space that should grow and adapt to time and user’s changing needs. |
| AWARD DETAILS | |
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Alcyone Standing Chair by Tetsuo Shibata is Winner in Furniture Design Category, 2019 - 2020.· Read the interview with designer Tetsuo Shibata for design Alcyone here.· Press Members: Login or Register to request an exclusive interview with Tetsuo Shibata. · Click here to register inorder to view the profile and other works by Tetsuo Shibata. |
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