Gustaf Chair

This chair took second place in the 2014 Chair Design Competition that Obrary had with San Diego State University.

My name is Gustaf Sjöstrand, and as I am from Sweden, I have always been a fan of Scandinavian design. The inspiration for my chair is therefore based on the simple and minimalistic design found at home. I have also gathered inspiration from conceptual CNC-made furniture found on sites such as Pinterest or Tumblr.

The design process started with an idea for a lockable joint between the wooden pieces. With this goal in mind, I started a sketching and idea generating phase which ultimately led me to a concept that seemed feasible. I drew it up in Rhino 4, and then had several test pieces cut. With some tweaking I finally found a satisfactory joint, that both locks the pieces in place and resists tension, pressure and moment.

Complementary to this was also an idea that I could have the back support flex in some manner. With the living hinges from Obrary in mind, I started an idea generation and found that the living hinge could counter the force from the back, and act as a spring.

The final product is a chair that can be assembled and disassembled solo, has semantic joints that are easy to understand and features a seat back that reclines backwards.