Outcome

The idea for my stool was inspired by my third esquisse 'locking systems' when I discovered the strength of triangulation. I have developed this idea into my final stool after many trials and errors as there were many options for the inside structure. Made out of 10mm Xanita sustainable cardboard, it promotes the following features: can hold a weight of 150kg, is easy and quick to assemble, minimal use of material, recyclable and reusable material, lightweight, stackable, sturdy and brand-ready. It was designed for 100% design tokyo with these considerations in mind. I designed it for the two cafe areas in 100% design tokyo - one inside, one outside as I thought this is where it would be mostly appropriate - somewhere to sit down for 20 minutes and rest your feet. Overall, I think my idea is strong and I like how it looks very simple from the outside but inside there is a jungle of amazing lines that form the interior structure and also the seat of the stool.

Exploded Axonometric

Possible layouts of stool in area

In-situ

Prototype cutting outline

This pattern had varied slightly from the first one as after I got it cut out of Xanita I made some alternations.

Branding

Final prototype

Here is my final 1:1. It can hold 150kg, be produced in batches of 50 - 100 units and uses CNC cutting and scoring process.

Mock up 2

last bit of refinement.

First 1:1 mock up - Xanita

CAD layout 3 x structures

Origami inspiration for inside of body

1:1

The double thickness cardboard I used was very similar to Xanita so it gave me a good idea of size etc. I now will get it cut out of Xanita to see if it works as well in that!

Lid as a seat?

Concept Refinement - inner structure possibilities

Concept 3

Concept 2

Concept 1

Concept development

More inspiration examples

Inspiration examples

Chair Research

Some chair styles I researched to inspire my starting point to develop my own chair. Many of these are not exactly practical for 100% Tokyo, but from them I have collated the best into my design process.

Event research - 100% design Tokyo

Be4U - Furniture Design History

NGV Visit - Paul Kjaerholm

Esquisse 4: Take a seat

We had an initial idea for our seat that we came up with in class time. We were working with a hexagon shape with triangulation inside to secure it. Working out how we were going to produce the triangles and at what size proved difficult and took many tries when cutting them out. After hunting around for cardboard big enough as we needed 1.260m to be able to draw our design on we started making small folds and models in thinner card. We also set ourselves a brief of the stool being 420mm high and have some sort of combined backrest/table. This was not planned until we were physically building it as what we could experiment with on paper was limited. We made lots of tiny paper folds and then a half scale mock up and hoped it would work! In the end it turned out very sturdy and had a ledge that acted as a table.

Esquisse 3: locking systems

Finding my folding technique took a while as I practised a lot with paper and really should have just got into it with the cardboard. I first started by seeing how much material I had to work with, and in those 3 long strips I started folding it into a square and then a triangle. I found a triangle to be stronger as it had an extra flap which could also be used as a holding/folding technique. Once I had the basic shape and structure I played around with what could slot into the triangle, and made a 1:50 model to test it out. After many folds and cuts I found that 4 interlocking triangles worked best. They held themselve in place by being cut the right size, and prooved pretty strong. The locking/folding method was a little loose at the base but still stood upright when stood on.