DESIGN NAME: Graphium Chair
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Chair
INSPIRATION: Winning a bronze in last year's A' Design competition for the Veizla Table was a great motivator, and a table is not complete without chairs... Hence, I wanted to design a chair, inspired by the 120 degree angles of the table's under-carriage... I wanted to create a chair which would both complement the Veizla range but also stand out in it's own right. I seeked further inspiration in the Danish masters like Borge Mogensen and Hans J Wegner and their ground-breaking work... I was aiming to create a modern classic.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Graphium chair (named after the butterfly genus Graphium, which shape inspired the design of the back rest) is a 3-legged chair. A chair has many criteria to overcome. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, it must be strong, sturdy, light, and comfortable... The Graphium chair excells in all these criteria.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The Graphium chair is visually interesting and invites you to try it. It is extreemely comfortable and gives you an ergonomically correct sitting position. In use, the centre of gravity has proven to be towards the front of the chair making it very sturdy. The curved backrest cradles the user.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project started in the summer of 2013, drawing the chair and subsequently making the model. By Septemeber 2013 I had the final drawings ready to show to my furniture maker. By November 2013 I had the prototype ready to test and evaluate. Final adjustments were done, and by April 2014 I delivered the first final product to a very satisfied client.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Furniture Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: The chair is made from solid wood, with veneered bent plywood backrest and upholstered seat. Before making the prototype chair, I made a scaled model out of foamboard and photographing it to better understand the proportions of the piece. Once I was happy with its shape, I worked closely with a furniture maker, initially discussing the process of assembly, details, visible joints. While the design was relatively quickly realised on the drawing board, it took a lot of practical experimentation to get it just right.
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: W460mm x D510mm x H820mm. SH450mm.
TAGS: Graphium, chair, three legged, 3 legged, pemara, pemara design, Per Ploug, designer chair, chair design
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: My objective was to create a chair to complement the Veizla Table. The unusual table has a visually stunning appearance, a strong yet elegant feel. The chair had to express similar things and have an obvious relation to the table. Being Danish, I based my research on chairs made by companies, who produce classics by famous designers, such as Mogensen and Wegner. I studied the comfort of their chairs, seat and backrest angles, the proportions and evaluated what it was that made them such icons.
CHALLENGE: The main challenge was to determine the right height position of the backrest... Too high and it looked top-heavy, too low and it started looking squashed... It took some practical experimentation to get it right. The height position didn't change the comfort of the chair, therefore I could concentrate on its looks... Shape of the seat was also challenging... I went through a few shapes until I settled on the one... How close/far it should be to the spine took some fine tuning also.
ADDED DATE: 2014-09-26 02:55:34
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IMAGE CREDITS: All images by photographer Andrew Miller 2014
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