Karekla Chair by Phebos Xenakis |
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| DESIGN DETAILS | |||||
| DESIGN NAME: Karekla PRIMARY FUNCTION: Chair INSPIRATION: The inspiration for this project came forth from wanting to preserve the original shape of the wooden shell whilst also creating a new function, this function being a seating element. UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Karekla-chair is a chair created from a series of neglected wooden shells that were gifted to our school by a furniture company. A simple adjustment of cutting the shell into segments made it into this one of a kind furniture piece. When one decides to sit in the chair, the segments will succumb to the weight of the user and create a comfortable seating. When the user stands back up again the shell returns to its original shape forming an almost sculptural object. OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The shell itself isn’t fit to be used for seating, whichever position you place it in it still remains an uncomfortable object which was not produced as a seat for a furniture piece. That is where the segments offer a solution. When one decides to sit on the chair the segments succumb to the users weight and proceed to take on the shape of the users underside, creating a comfortable seating. After the user stands back up again the shell returns to its original shape. Underneath the shell an arch was attached to the frame to prevent the segments from flexing too far when a person would sit in the chair. PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: This project started in November 2017 and ended in January 2018. It was then exhibited at the BAD fair in Januari 2018. FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Furniture Design |
PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: Obviously the wooden shell was not created by me but produced at a specialized company. The company merely gifted us their declined shells. The chair is composed of two main pieces. The frame, which is made out of steel and the shell which is made out of plywood. The segments were cut using a circular saw. The frame was welded together following the same S shape as the shell. To make it clear, there are no additional springs or rubber bands used in the design. The flexibility is a researched outcome created by the combination of the S shape of the shell, it’s thickness and the width of the segments. SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Width 600mm x Depth 600mm x Height 530mm TAGS: Chair, Segments, Flexible, Abstract, Design, Furniture RESEARCH ABSTRACT: Wanting to preserve the shell I started researching how I could make a furniture piece out of it without cutting the shell into separate pieces and therefore create more waste. By making cuts in the shell the flexibility in the seating was created. Each time a cut was made 3 mm of material inbetween would disappear. This is crucial as it prevents the segments from grinding against each other which in turn prevents skin or clothes from getting stuck in-between. CHALLENGE: The challenge for me was to create a furniture piece out of the shell, this altogether without altering or destroying the shells volume. It was a difficult task as cutting the shell up would have provided more possibilities for a design. The second problem was the shell on itself didn’t offer any possible way of being used as a seat since every position it was put in proved to be very uncomfortable. As suggested by my mentor I hid the safety arch underneath the chair so the design as a whole would look more like an abstract object, making people doubt it’s purpose as a seating element. The fact that most of the people who tested it were afraid the segments of the chair wouldn’t hold out (because the safety arch wasn't visible) gave it a sort of a comical twist. ADDED DATE: 2018-03-09 13:13:43 TEAM MEMBERS (1) : IMAGE CREDITS: Amiracle, Amir Turayev |
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| Visit the following page to learn more: http://www.phebos-xenakis.be/ | |||||
| CLIENT/STUDIO/BRAND DETAILS | |
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NAME: Thomas More PROFILE: With 36 professional Bachelors and 15000 students in total, the Thomas More college is one of the biggest in the province of Antwerp, Belgium. The school has multiple courses with one of them being VOMO, a specialized year that focuses purely on furniture design. |
| AWARD DETAILS | |
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Karekla Chair by Phebos Xenakis is Winner in Furniture Design Category, 2017 - 2018.· Press Members: Login or Register to request an exclusive interview with Phebos Xenakis. · Click here to register inorder to view the profile and other works by Phebos Xenakis. |
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