Simple Chair

Simple Chair was developed to explore concise construction techniques inhabiting the blurry space somewhere between furniture and architecture. Cut from a single sheet, its form engenders the basic material capacities of plywood. Of particular interest was the emergence of an inherent material tectonic, in this case the traces of CNC tooling.

The chair's dimensions and angles match the natural postures of the human body, it is made from a single sheet of 4'x8' wood and it assembles in minutes without a single screw. Using advanced digital fabrication techniques, the chair is cut from a single wood sheet on a CNC mill and is optimized to minimize waste.

Its parts interlock for assembly, meaning you don't need to screw (or glue or tape or velcro) anything together – the parts hold themselves together using nothing other than gravity and clever geometry. The chair is sturdy and surprisingly comfortable as a place to sit in while hanging out. When not in use, it provides a contemporary interior accent to whatever room you put it in.

The project proposes an entire system of joinery whose possibility stretches beyond one chair design. Alongside the first chair, a small table was developed from the excess unused area of the 4x8 plywood sheet to calibrate how the ideas of the Simple Chair might extend to other pieces.

Both chair and table share a common vocabulary of interlocking geometry and material considerations. Each features a series of designed maneuvers which accommodate the form of their production, CNC milling.

Simple chair is surprisingly comfortable, versatile and, above all else, elemental. It supposes a form of design that is natural, human and adorned by the unnecessary overcomplication that sometimes overwhelms design. Simple Chair is just that: simple.