Furniture prototype: CompoSITe

CompoSITe:
This project seeks to expressively explore the limits of high strength laminate technology.
Made from fiber reinforced polymer composite materials, the sofa, love seat and club chair are expressions of the strength found in these laminates sheets.
There is weightlessness in lines of this design as the absolute minimum amount of material is being used for maximum effect.
Being a laminated product, the furniture carcass can be produce in an unlimited array of colors, finishes and patterns., from matte to glossy, from smooth to textured and from subtle to primary.
Draped over the carcass is an innovative and new approach to upholstery.

Instead of being attached, the cushion and cladding is simply draped over the seating in layers.

Now, any number of choices can be made independent of the laminate base.

Fabric or leather, wool felt or silk, or anything in between can be mixed or matched to the client’s desire.

And given the easy of interchangeability, divergent combinations can be ordered for different seasons or occasions, without any major effort or change to the base seat. A new level of user responsiveness has been developed with this highly flexible systemic approach to sofa design.

The internal voids and wide sidearms of this design, build in a high level of added functionality.

They can be used as storage areas, side tables or extra seating.

The low, horizontal stance and industrial edginess of these pieces are in response to the high volumed spaces of raw artist lofts.

The example shown in these renderings teams a matte finished battleship grey outer laminate with a black and white stained wood inner laminate.

The coordinating drape cushions are of industrial wool felt in two shades of dark grey.

Furniture Prototype:Theta

Theta:
Elemental design with an expressionist edge.
Mathematical precision results in a flat-pack chair that defines a perfect cubic volume with a single material. Veneer plywood or ecologically sustainable sheet goods like wheat board or sorghum based boards can be used.
Alternate materials can range from lacquered wood or any number of composite boards like Panelite or polycarbonate sheet.
The simple and elegant design depends on slotted connections with no need for hardware of any kind.

This chair is sturdy but also easily assembled or disassembled without tools.
Individual parts can be replaced when worn or interchanged to produce different looks. The minimalist style makes this a very versatile chair with dramatic lines.

Angled notches are strategically cut into four plywood sheets. The edges can be veneered, left exposed to reveal the grain or painted a contrasting color. Each resulting board is slightly different from the others and is designed to fit together like puzzle pieces.

The precision cutting allows for each part to be friction fit without mechanical fasteners.

The hole in the middle allows for the disparate planes to come together and interlock as a functional yet sculptural object.