Design Intent
Chair folds flat
Wood is main material
Consider dis- and reassembly
NU’s sustainability mission is to design considering how products are made and what systems/materials are used, to prevent harm to the environment.
Sustainability in design is designing with a timeless mindset, creating a product that can be used forever, repaired, or broken down to be used again.
General Folding Chair Ideation
Chair aesthetic - front view. Must be interesting to look at.
Determining boundaries of wood and how much curvature is possible in the legs.
Dis- and Re-assembly Ideation
Moodboard
Leading questions: Joint placement? What is the best hardware to use that allows for strength and dis-/reassembly?
Paper Prototyping
Full-size foam core model
What aesthetic does it bring to a room? Seat height?
Joinery Prototype using 3/4 in plywood to test the seat and leg joinery
Using hinge joinery which travels through the addition beam and is secured with a two nuts.
Adds 3/4 in of height to the seat with the beams on both sides.
While this allows the legs to rotate, the seat is unable to fold flat since the leg’s joinery is on the same plane. For the next model, the back leg hinge locations must be drilled into the seat instead.
Building the NU
To-scale Adobe Illustrator orthographic drawings were converted to CAM which instructed the CNC router machine to make cuts of the assembly pieces.
Trimmed front leg joint addition to the seat down so that it would be able to be folded upwards.
Clamping seat and legs in place to be able to measure out drill location holes of where the joinery should go.
Strengthened chair by adding another locking mechanism, also helps make the fold and unfold more controlled.
One coat of oil finish.
Two coats of oil finish.
NU Chair in action
NU Chair Gallery - Fusion360 model, Keyshot renders
