Furniture
Crosslegged Chair
Crosslegged chair was designed and built in 2006.
Crafted with basswood, steel, reclaimed elastic bands.
The Crosslegged chair was designed based on Japanese joinery. The structure comes together in a way that does not have any screws, nails or permanent joints. Each piece is in tension and the chair holds itself similar to tensegrity structures.
Parametric chair Collection
Parametric chair collection
This collection is an ongoing research-based project focused on user input in mass-customized furniture production. Pieces like Three, Vessel chair, Bungeeseat, Leftover chair are a few that were developed to production level.
This collection is developed in Grasshopper for Rhino software platform. The input sensory has been a series of digitizers, image based mapping techniques and live input.
Parkdale Chair
“Parkdale chair” is made with off cuts of other studies in the Parachair collection. Designed in parametric design platforms has allowed for more efficient use of resources. Working with CNC machines and other CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) technologies usually results in large amount of waste and unsalvageable leftover materials. The parametric design platform allowed for better analysis and use of the off-cuts.
Flexible back-support to adjust to different proportions.
Parkdale chair is a small lounge chair made with white-birch plywood and felt cushions. The flexible back is uniquely design to accommodate different body types and proportions.
Three; an explodable chair
“Three” was designed in early 2009 as part of Parachair collection.
Parachair was a series of studies and prototypes focused on Parametrically designed furniture with capability of mass customization.
Using negative space as a design element, it frames three hollow cushions to become a chair.
Three was designed with removable components with magnetic joinery to be taken apart easily to become three cushions.
The Bungeeseat; Fishbol 2009 Collection
My design process for the Bungeeseat was a precedent‐based exploration on material and ideas. The first of my sketches came from a visit to the design museum in London which featured an exhibition called “Design Cities”*; seven cities were presented. Bungeeseat combines elements of Rene Herbst’s Chaise Sandows with the structural language of Jean Prouve whose works were exhibited at the show in London. Keeping the core elements of these two examples, I began our own digital iterations of this model. This project became a platform for a series of parametric explorations in our furniture design process. With a series of modeling scripts and algorithms, I was able to achieve real‐time visualization and calculations of components for improved performances in my designs.
Rene Herbst ‐ The French architect turned designer was nicknamed the “man of steel”. He pioneered the use of industrial materials for furniture years before mass production on a large scale was possible. In 1929 he created several versions of his celebrated Sandows Chair, which ignited his research into serial production and inaugurated the era of mass production in the hype of modernism**, giving impetus to global production and a new era for design and architecture. Modernism and the ideas from that movement are fascinating for me, but it was not my intention to recreate modern furniture with modern ideals; my approach was nostalgo‐modern along with today’s conscious in material selection. Rather than the concept of global/mass production, we focused on limited production at Fishbol.
The other part of this project was to figure out Toronto’s role as the “Eighth Design City.” Our intention was to keep production local and more responsible to the environment. I was able to supply the bungee cords from an old Canadian manufacturing company here in downtown Toronto, and the Bamboo‐ply is from a supplier in Markham, Ontario. Though the Bamboo‐ply is not sourced locally, it is considered a rapidly renewable resource with extra structural strength. These qualities made bamboo‐ply a better choice compared to conventional Baltic‐Birch plywood that was used for my first study models and prototypes.
The final phase is packaging for projects like the Bungeeseat. Going back to the drafting board and study models with the help of Sara Navid, we developed a quite stylish reusable cardboard box that would allow for repackaging of this ready‐to‐assemble (RTA) chair. Most of the packaging design was done by Elie.
*http://www.designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2008/designcities
**David Raizman, History of modern design: graphics and products since the Industrial Revolution;Published by Laurence King Publishing, 2003
Vessel Chair; a prototype for the Parachair project
The design of the Vessel chair is driven by the Voronoi tessellation pattern. Part of Parachair collection by fishtnk, Grasshopper™ plugin for Rhinoceros3D modeling platform is utilized in order to model the parametrically designed frame; The chair frame is constructed with one inch plywood, milled with 3axis CNC machine. The seat surface is created by extruding the edges of the structure cut-outs of the frame. The material is flexible polyester resin fiberglass.
The vessel chair is designed as an responsive mass-customized furniture. Designed in Grasshopper/Rhino computer platform the structure is scripted around 3 variables:
The users height, weight + a raster image.
Vessel Chair _ A prototype for parametric furniture from Fishtnk on Vimeo.
Based on these parameters, the algorithm re-calculates the amount of structure needed according to the height/weight ratio of the user and takes away the unnecessary material, changes the proportions to the most optimum dimensions.
The third variable, the users submitted picture, is to be analysed for the colour selection of the chair [this is the part I'm still developing.]
If the user is happy with the outcome the design could be submitted [baked] to be processed as CAM [Computer aided manufacuring] information for CNC milling.
By early 2009 there will be a section of this site dedicated to input of these varaibles and visualizing your chair, if you were happy with out come you can place an order right there!
Bulbnest; non-parametric light collection
Bulbnest
Insipred by the animals architectural instincts, specifically bird-nest construction this collection is a study for a series of hand crafted light-shades. The lights are all handmade and the fabrication process makes each piece unique.
The bulbnest Collection is available at fishtnk shop!
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Refrences:
Oropendola nest.
Osprey nest
Hornero nest
Bird Nests and Construction Behaviour
