Gen's Blog: 8月 2011

2011年8月29日月曜日

Project2 'reinterpret - STAGE 1: RESEARCH

- Photo Essay

- CAD Drawings and Renderings

and more views...

- Written Statement

The chair I have purchased is a school chair from 60’s. It is a challenging choice for the project, because the user of the chair is children. Designer needs to consider the ergonomics differently and the look of it is very important just as function.

The main frame of the chair is manufactured with 5 tubular steel and 2 flat bars bended and welded together.

The ends of the tubes that touch the floor are covered with small steel cap. Now a day this part is more likely covered with rubber materials.

The flat bars have pressed with machine to give strength and also to make the holes for the screws to go through.

The seating and backrest are made from plywood covered with textured vinyl to give leather kind look. They are attached to the frame using screws. Screws are on underside and back to hide visually.

The form of the chair is very simple, though the curvature on back legs to backrest looks quite interesting.

I’d like to keep the overall shape of the frame but try using different materials such as wood.
The theme of the chair will be the "play full". By it means the chair gives entertaining to kids and be more than a chair.

2011年8月16日火曜日

Project 1 'ReVisit' -Funiture Design History (Part 2)

Detailed investigation

Selected chair: "Wiggle side chair" designed by Frank O. Gehry

Exploded perspective view of the chair, and detail of material and manufacturing process.

Frank Gehry is a one of leading architect in the world well known for his use of unusual materials.

One of his best-known piece of architecture is Guggenheim Museum in Spain covered with curved titanium panels. His designs are very curvy and interesting shape, or perhaps wired shape. They don’t reflect the belief that form follows function.

Gehry says he is very much inspired by fish. He interested about the fact millions of years ago human were fish, and started sketching them in his sketchbook and started to realize that there was something in it.

Furniture using cardboard exist from early 1960s, however most of them tend to hide the cardboard inside with paint and/or other materials to give the same look as traditional wooden furniture.

The “Wiggle side chair” is a part of his series of furniture “Easy Edges” produced from 1969-1973. The concept of the series is to give a new and surprising aesthetic dimension to corrugated cardboard. Gehry revealed the section of cardboard to outside and even emphasized them by using curvature. The corrugation of in the section of cardboard is just beautiful. beautiful as wood grains and other materials.

Hardboard facing is applied to the furniture's flat surfaces to add to the durability of the designs.
Also from sustainable view, cardboard is an environmental friendly choice.