Contents

Design Statement

Research

Ideation

Design Development

Model

Process for Final Piece

Final Piece
Design Statement
This dining chair that I have designed is for young urban professionals that host dinner parties
for their friends and family. The profile of this bent ply-wood chair is simple with stained curved and
straight edges. Many of the dining chairs in the market now are no doubt comfortable, however can
they also add ease to the owners life?
The teardropped cutouts on the chair are not only for ornamentation but also help reduce the
weight. These cut out shapes on the chair back let the users hang their bags and coats on the chair
easily without it sliding off easily. This dining chair may seem to be only suitable for formal dining
however the simple and modern tear-dropped cutouts add a little informality to the atmostphere. The
conventional dining chair in homes are mostly designed to be sat in for only a short period of time after
that, aches in the body start to happen, however the chair that I have designed will be comfortable for
at least 2 hours so diners can enjoy their meal at ease.
Moodboard
Research
Before designing the actual chair, as research, other existing chairs were
studied. Their comfort level, design of form as well as function were
looked at and studied.

• West Elm. • Dining chair by Norman • Standard, Jean Prouve,

• Cheapest in price.
• Thinnest type of plywood.
• Different patterns on the
chair give character and
individuality.
Cherner Fairly comfortable.
• Shape of arms felt unsafe.
• Priced around $900.
1934.
• Bent plywood, steel tubular
legs Quite comfortable, the
back could be higher.
• Liked colors used.
• Eames Elephant, Charles • LCW Chair, Charles and
and Ray Eames, 1945. Ray Eames, 1946.
• Plastic toy/stool • Very low, very easy to
• $185 slide in to as well as get
out of
• Very comfortable
• Around $900.
• Antony, Jean Prouve,
1954.
• Designed as a dorm chair
• Most comfortable chair
• Able to support a wide
range of people in different
sizes.
Ergonomics

According to human anthropometrics, the seat

height should be 16” - 19” to be comfortable to
be seated at a table height of 29”. The backward
slope of the seat also should not produce a knee
angle of less than 90 degrees with the feet flat on
the ground. The seat should be as deep as possible
but not greater than the length of the thigh mea-
sured from the fold of the knee to the back which is
between 17.2” to 20.1”.
There should also be room for the legs to lift and
move around while seated and below the table.
Ideation
After sketching, I decided that I would go with a rectangular shape for the seat back. As well as
keeping the legs as simple as possible. I also chose to work further with a flat seat.
Design Development
Foam core Models at 1/4 scale
Model A
I made this model to explore the cutout detail on
the back of the chair. This was what I had drawn
in the sketches at first. I want this detail to not
only just be a decorative thing but also to serve a
function. I intend for this to be for hooking bags
and coats, as well as for people to pull out their
chairs easily. I needed to change the legs of this
model because it did not fit with the back.
Model B
For this model, I played around more with
proportions and the style of the chair. The width
of the chair was too wide compared to the height
of the legs, I however did like the way the legs
looked in this model more than the ones in the
previous model.
The sketch on the left is what I have decided
to follow for the final shape/form of my
dining chair.
These final sketches show more of the different shapes and positions I was exploring for the cut outs of
the chair back and legs. In the end, I decided to use leaf-like or tear drop motifs. This would hopefully
keep the chair ambiguous with no specific gender as the focus. These motifs would become cutouts on the
chair and allow for people to hook their bags and coats on it. As well as reduce the final weight of this
ply-wood chair. The bottom back points of the chair legs have also been extended to help with the
balancing of the chair.
Full Scale Cardboard Model

This mockup was also important for me because of

the cutouts on the back of the seat. The black tape
was representing the shape of the cutout intended.
It was not effective for me at all. All the other
dimensions were satisfactory, however there were
worries about the chair tipping backwards when in
use.
Quarter Scale Model

Final quarter scale model

Chipboard, Basswood
Veneer
Sobo Glue, Paper Cement.

Refer to technical drawings

for full scale size.
1/4 scale model was made out of layered 1/16” chipboard. Three layers mimick
the plywood thickness for the final prototype of the chair. Basswood veneer on
the surface as well as beneath the cutouts. The pieces were sanded and glued
together. Bottom left photograph shows how the separate pieces will be put
together.
Technical Drawings

Top View Bottom View

Front Elevation Right Elevation

All measurements in inches.

Drawing Scale 1:1
Left Elevation Back View
Final Piece