Origami Slot Chair (patent pending) Chair and Puzzle by Sean Erik Reichborn-Mitchell |
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| DESIGN NAME: Origami Slot Chair (patent pending) PRIMARY FUNCTION: Chair and Puzzle INSPIRATION: Akio HIZUME and Chris Palmer gave me the inspiration while creating three dimentional forms from two dimentional materials. In College Chris Palmer was a professor of mine and together we created a program that would engineer slots to create forms like the chair UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It is a completely structural chair that is created from one sheet of plywood (4'X8') and only one sheet of plywood. There are no nails, screws, fasteners or glue. It is just perfectly cut slots that form together to create a strong structure using only natural forces. OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: This unique piece of furniture transforms from a flat surface of material to a 3 dimensional piece of art in less than 20 seconds which a child could put together without directions PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: - FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Furniture Design |
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The image of the perfect chair during the design process was a chair that could have been made with origami. It would use a singular material without the need of any glue, screws, or nails, and be completely structural. As I began searching for materials, it became very difficult to find a structural material that could be folded and still practical. I then began to redesign for the purpose of a singular material that was essentially 2-D, this could be plywood, sheet plastic, sheet metal, etc. The evolution of the project came from what fundamentally was origami, the ability to start with a 2-dimentional material to create a 3-dimentional structural object using no other materials. What also allowed for this project to evolve was the use of a previous project I had been working on with a prior professor Chris Palmer. Together we created a program that would determine the size of a slot of two intersecting planes, so that it could be cut to join the materials without the need of any type of fasteners. With this process repeated you can create very elaborate projects. There was a new challenge with this project. The program that was created before assumed that all the materials would be assembled from above, this was no longer feasible. There now needed to be a new program to be created where the plains would be assembled at the angles of comfort. This is where research was done to determine what is comfortable, also what is comfortable for the type of activity it is being used for. I then found the appropriate angles for the average person using the Humanscale Seating Guide (pictured above), the angles that I found necessary were between the seating style of a movie theater position and an executive position. It was from here that I began to take the required angles and try and relate them through the rest of the project. The creation of the design came from taking the necessary angles, lengths, and widths of both the seat and back pieces. The height off of the ground is also very important but had not materialized yet. The other determining factor is the focal point of the seat because it is where the center of gravity is. This is not only important for the strength of the chair in supporting the weight of the user but also the strength the piece being abused as all furniture is. It was at this point that there were a fixed set of rules that could be worked with and construction lines were made from every vertex orthogonally. This then gave me a plan of geometry and lines of intersection to work with. I then began to use lines that would create a form that would look like it was growing from the focal point of the chair like a flower. This giving it a natural a straight forward design that can be easily understood. More info at: SeanMitchDesigns.com SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Packaged Dimentions: L 30" x W 21" X H 3.5" Constructed Dimentions: H 32" x W 26.5" x D 28" TAGS: Sustainible, Origami, Fabrication, Chair, Compact, Industrial Design RESEARCH ABSTRACT: The research necessary for the project involved years of experience and teachings from Akio HIZUME and Chris Palmer. After research of many traditional geometric patterns I was able to visualize the concept of this chair. It took the ability of many years of computer programming and Calculus to understand the complex geometries involved in order the construct this chair. Each lot and angle had to be cut precisely based off of the thickness of the material and the angle of interaction for it to become a comfortable structural chair. CHALLENGE: The most difficult part of the design was converting the imagined 3 dimensional shape into a reality. It was very difficult to create the offsets and programs that could mathematically perfect the dimensions to bring the design to a reality, while giving the design a still very simple and beautiful form. ADDED DATE: 2010-08-05 13:49:13 TEAM MEMBERS (1) : Sean Reichborn-Mitchell IMAGE CREDITS: Sean Erik Reichborn-Mitchell, 2010. |
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Origami Slot Chair (patent Pending) Chair and Puzzle by Sean Erik Reichborn-Mitchell is Runner-up for A' Design Award in Furniture Design Category, 2010 - 2011.· Press Members: Login or Register to request an exclusive interview with Sean Erik Reichborn-Mitchell. · Click here to register inorder to view the profile and other works by Sean Erik Reichborn-Mitchell. |
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