Redesigning the Indian Office Chair

The Indian Office chair is an iconic vintage chair designed by Pierre Jeanneret for the city of Chandigarh in the 1950s. This project aims to redesign the chair and give it a modern touch. The project explores various aspects, including initial research, ideation, concept generation, detailing, and ultimately, prototyping the redesigned chair.

Indian Office Chair by Pierre Jeannert

Dimensions : 50 cm*50 cm*78 cm
Current Market value : $6,000 - $10,000
Design Period : 1950 to 1959
Materials : Teak Wood & Cane

Design Brief

Redesigning and modernizing the iconic Indian office chair by Pierre Jeannert.
Keywords: RETRO, CONTEMPORARY, NOSTALGIC

Ideation

The process of ideation began with the exploration of various shapes and forms. The original chair is known for its geometric and angular design, with one of its most striking features being the V-shaped legs. Therefore, additional exploration was conducted, drawing inspiration from other letterforms.

More constraint ideation

Kept the basic skeleton of the chair same and proceeded ideation with this constraint.

Concepts

Concept 1: As one of the most striking features of the original chair is the V-shaped legs, decided to embrace this design element. Therefore, V-shaped elements were added to the armrest.

Concept 2: For Concept 2, decided to incorporate an additional attachment unit between the legs and armrest. This attachment unit will be constructed using either metal or 3D printed plastic.

Concept 3: Concept 3 drew its main inspiration from Lego blocks, aiming to incorporate their modular nature into the chair design. The idea involved utilizing multiple rectangular pieces of wood, each sharing the same cross-section, to construct the chair.

Selected Concept

The selected concept combines concept 2 and 3. It features a layered, telescope-like form and also incorporates the joint used to bind the legs together. The main idea behind Concept 2 was to use an attachment unit made out of a different material, such as metal or 3D printed plastic, this would also give more structural rigidity to the chair. Concept 3 was inspired by a telescope. The main feature of Concept 3 is the layered design. Concept 3 is very easy to manufacture and should have less material wastage.

Detailing the selected concept

Legs

Attaching Unit

Backrest

Mood board

Final Concept

After having the concept ready, proceeded to refine the details of each part of the chair. The initial focus was on exploring different designs for the joint responsible for holding the legs together. Likewise, various combinations for the three-piece legs were considered. A set of designs for the backrest of the chair was also developed. Once each part had been sorted out, and with the help of the mood board, the final concept was ready.

Initial Prototyping- Armrest

For the initial prototyping, made the armrest of the chair out of wood. This was done to get a better idea about the size of the chair and texture and finish of the finished wood.

Refined Final Concept

After receiving feedback for the initial prototype, changes were made to the concept. The focus of these modifications was primarily on achieving a sleeker appearance for the chair. To accomplish this, a decision was made to construct the armrest and legs using two pieces instead of three. Additionally, adjustments were made to the backrest to further enhance its sleekness.