Edge Chair

The project

A comfortable, stackable chair made in solid ash wood.

THE CHALLENGE
The European furniture industry needs to innovate in new materials and designs that provide functionality and sustainability while preserving a point of unicity and craftmanship.

THE SOLUTION
In collaboration with the finish carpentry company Fiskarson Puusepät Oy, the partnership will produce a stackable chair with good comfort, minimalistic form, made from natural wood using traditional craftsmanship to create a chair that is unique to the market. They use 5-axis CNC technology which can push the wooden material into new functions and forms in mass production.

The organic form of the wood adds an extra dimension to the chair and a tactile sensation when in contact with the human body. The Project is a combination of minimalistic design, traditional craftmanship and technology that makes possible to push a wooden material into new forms and functions.

Storytelling

THE IDEA:

The idea for my project came from a wish to use a stackable chair made in natural materials in my own house. I am a mother of 3 kids and I really appreciate healthy materials.

THE BIRTH OF THE PROJECT:

There are more than one billion chairs in the world, so why make a new? But the combination of function, material and form make the Edge Chair a sustainable choice because of its quality. With This project meets the need for a functional dining chair made in natural materials.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS:

I started my design process by making hand drawings and small cardboard models in order to develop the overall concept of the chair. With 1:1 cardboard models I tested all the soft curves to meet the body in a comfortable way. It took me three wooden prototypes to master the balance with both the function, the aesthetic expression, craftmanship and use of the wooden material to succeed. A last I explored the linseed oil with blue pigments and during that I got both blue hair, fingers, nail and legs. The linden consistency of the oils and the strong color of the pigments treated and colored the ash wood.

THE COLLABORATION:

My partner in the project is a very skilled craftsman and the combination of his skills and mine has ended up in a chair. When I draw on paper and 3d on the computer it was a pleasure to take the parts to the next step where he transformed my lines into pieces of wood.

THE FUTURE:

The next step for the chair is that I am going to set up a collaboration between me and a design brand in order to mass produce the chair.

THE MESSAGE:

A fruitful project grows out of collaboration when good people with different skills meet.