INDN241 - Project TWO  

Andre Ryan

Good to Great             

Starting this assignment I decided I wanted to dive in an explore good design that all held unique qualities. Some holding value that became more potential than others, from the many classics I explored while researching, appeared to provide a value of sustainability incorporated through it. I established the majority of my critique and opinion for what my desired design criteria would be from the previous projects researching, the application of ordering sustainable mediums in a specific way to create a functioning design product. The constraints to specific materials and being able to then create something that is still purposeful in how its functioning.

Designing created with intention to take advantage of sustainable mediums and processes. Developing a use of materials created from waste or excess into a product that can be recycled or degradable at the end of its life, allowing for a continuing process.

The value from having longevity in a product is significant, good design is something that is innovative, easy to use, and works towards solving a problem. It should be long-lasting and take the future of our planet into consideration. Also being unique through the use of aesthetics. Allowing for my product to be repairable without having to discard the entire form is a deep factor taken into consideration.

This chair was one of the first designed by the Eames to appeal to the high end market. Charles Eames said his goal for the chair was that it be a special refuge from the strains of modern living, comfy and un-designy. Eames also said that his vision was for the chair to have a warm, and receptive look of well-used first baseman’s mitt. It was to provide ultimate comfort from the highest quality materials and craftsmanship, a lighter, more elegant and modern version of the classic club chair, that is now a timeless piece of design.

The main build of the chair that creates it’s elegant form is created by unwrapping a log to create sheet veneers (plywood), seven layers of veneer are then sandwiched together with the addition of glue on alternating sides of the sheets. The layered veneer is then placed under a molded press against a master form, which applies the perfect amount of heat and pressure required to bend the wood, achieving those organic curves of the chair. A process they pioneered in the 1940’s. The luxurious leather finish is created from high quality leather. The leather is then hand sewed for each part of the chair before being filled with a PU injected high density urethane foam. The chair is then upholstered with buttons that make the chair pre-creased and softened so that the chair is already compliant when sitting in the chair. 

The chair is made to give an illusion of pre-worn/used so that it doesn’t appear like an expensive piece of furniture, while it is one of the most expensive chairs from the Eames’. While illusioned to be pre-worn, the chair provides that comfortability all while upholding a high quality standard. 

The chair was rather designed as a solution as opposed to a luxury, despite the price tag, only there to deter the idea of low cost, “stylish” furniture that everyone owns.

Although constructed from innovative techniques pioneered by themselves almost a century ago, they seem to uphold to this date in terms of its quality and eco friendly manner. The plywood is a natural resource coming from a renewable resource, trees, able to be replanted and reproduced unlike some materials. Purposely selected over other materials, plywood is stronger than steel in static bending strength, which is idyllic in a circumstance where the consumer purchasing the chair may vary in different shapes and sizes, meaning it is physically able to cater for all. All while being eco friendly, the plywood has a beautiful finish, significant to that of other sustainable materials.

Due to the adhesive bond created between the veneer sheets, the plywood is unable to be broken down/biodegrade in it’s end life due to the chemical properties of the newly created material as it emits high levels of VOC (volatile organic compounds) that can increase as it degrades. Instead it is able to be reused over and over because of the materials durability and resistance. Allowing the material to be reused over and over until the products usability comes to an end. 

The sourcing of aluminium used in the chair is remelted aluminium as opposed to producing primary aluminium from scratch. Aluminium is also 100% recyclable meaning it is not wasted when the product has reached its end of life, it is instead reused to continue the cycle of creating the components for the chair, creating no need to harvest any extra aluminium. 

The leather is a natural material from animals and a byproduct from the meat industry, so while it is considered inhumane and not eco-friendly, it is actually somewhat beneficial to utilize due to the fact it doesn’t need any additional land or resources to produce. Giving a  sensical use for the material oppugnant to sourcing for a new material that would generally be used in the replacement of leather. 

The high quality, innovativity and durability of the chosen materials shows it was designed for longevity and essentially to be irreplaceable in the users lifetime. These characteristics make a timeless design all while being constructed with sustainable and eco-friendly materials.

It is a significant design in terms of its revolutionary design and design methods used to build the frameworks of the chair. It is also iconic because this was part of an era that brought us our current modern design and without designers adding to this epoch we wouldn’t have a similar design practise today.

The 'Knit Chair' designed by Emiliano Godoy, who created the chair in response to a more sustainable future. The chairs components consist of: Birch, Plywood, Veneer, and Sash Cord. All of which are full sustainable. 

The individual Birch Plywood segments that form the chair are biodegradable so when the chair begins to wear away you are able to dispose of the chair product into the earth. Each chair being individually handmade, cutting out the means of mass production and sequentially cutting down on the emissions created by mass production factories. The design speaks about the construction of the chair and therefore the deconstruction. Giving the consumer an advised incentive to step in the right direction on how to recycle the product when it has reached the end of its life.

The way the chair has been formulated together with sash cord and sectional wooden pieces, allows it to ergonomically adapt to the user, creating comfort and versatility from sustainable mediums and methods. By utilizing sustainable methods using materials in production the actual design of the chair is limited into how far you can push it. However, given those limitations it creates a unique style and ergonomic function to the design of the chair.

For my final research I explored outside of furniture and chairs and had a interest in household items, being specifically the lamp. Car engineer Carwardine, was working with a spring type mechanism in a car when he released the physical characteristics honed by the mechanism that would apply perfectly to a desk lamp, no longer needing to clamp it to the desk to give it freedom of movement.

The intent for the design of the lamp was to be able to have a desk lamp that did not require it to be clamped in order to adjust its positioning. By creating the spring mechanism it allowed the lamp and lamps to this date to be more versatile and useful in their everyday use, almost becoming an essential for any desk dweller. The lamp is mostly built from two metals, chromium plated steel and cast iron, and the rest being the main electrical components used to power the lamp. 

Given the era when this was made I don't believe Carwardine had the idea of sustainability in mind, especially since he was a car designer he most likely would have been limited to his tool and material set given to him to design and prototype cars. This led the lamp to being mostly composed of metals, with chromium plated steel and a cast iron base. Chromium plating being a toxic chemical that would require separation from the steel if it wanted to be recycled/re-used. Because of its toxic properties the metals wouldn’t always be separated and would result in the metals being mixed, not maintaining the steels continuity, being remelted over and over. The cast iron however could be removed and melted down and reused over and over and still maintain 100% of its materialistic properties. I don’t believe Carwardine was striving to achieve something sustainable but rather just innovative, advancing our technology as we know it today. 

I began with sketching ideas of a chair that would flow in a reclining way where chair was one with the backrest to the footrest. I wanted to keep the form and flow of the original chair and play on the idea of comfortability, as did the Eames' for their own interpretation.

The Chair when stripped of most of its elements, keeps to a uniquely innovative flow in its shape, something I wanted to keep in my design. Instead of it being segmented I wanted my chair to feel it had a sense of flow as one rather than having a disconnect.

When I explored potential materials I wanted to make use of new and old sustainable mediums, something the Eames' didn't have in their designs. A recent use of technology by taking priority of function and usability being designed to sit in comfortably for hours. Using a texture of auxetic mesh which can expand in directions and moulds that suits your body's comfort. By creating an ergonomic comfort that is in a clean contemporary form entirely made from reclaimed plastics. Built up of plastic waste from our oceans and bamboo/cork. The longevity is sustained with the pieces of the chair being reused to make more chairs, while the main structure/form of the chair is biodegraded back into the earth as nutrients to continuously grow. Finally the base of the chair is made from cast scrap aluminium, adding to the continuity of the lightweight and versatile material set. 

I mostly steered away from non basic sustainable materials as it is not something that would help emphasize my plan to use steel or leathers with my reinterpretation. 

For my final look at my reinterpretation I brought my model into Fusion 360 and Keyshot to render out some realistic images that managed to capture my externalized design to an extent, giving myself an idea of how it might look it it was physically created. The final result of my renders to help capture and give a 3D sense to the viewer are below.

I decided to name the chair the Beach Comfort chair as it is aesthetically designed to appear like sand dunes with all its individual gaps in rhythm flowing to really emphasize the idea of comfort.