Index Chair
The Index Chair is an exercise in minimalism and utility.
“Why bother choosing a certain chair? Because that chair says something about you.”
— David Bowie
Process
I started by sketching thumbnails of chairs in many different styles.
From there, I began what I like to call The Ba-chair-lor.
A grueling process where contestants are eliminated at every stage of progression.
Final 3 Concepts
Materiality
I decided to move ahead with the third design because of its honest, clean, design.
I was striving for simplicity: trying to use as few materials as possible.
Aluminum was chosen for the body for its weight advantage over steel and its ability to be infinitely recycled.
For the cushion, leather was picked for its strength and luxurious feel.
This chair was designed to last at least a lifetime.
Aluminum
Leather
1:8 Scale Model
A 1:8 scale steel model was fabricated out of a single steel sheet to work out the order of operations when using a sheet metal brake.
The proportions still felt a little off,
but this would be addressed in a full scale functional model.
Full Scale Functional Model
After finally sitting in the chair, it was clear that the back and armrests needed to be raised for ergonomics.
