Name: Reading Chair
Year: 2016 Fall
Size: 75x105x98 cm
Material: Steel, foam and fabric
I designed the Reading Chair for the final exhibition in the international foundation course in Central Academy of Fine Arts. It was the first furniture-like object I made in my life.
The design concept is to make a reading chair which is able to store some books and magazines. Instead of adding a book shelf, I want to combine the storage function to the chair skeleton, utilize the multiple-layer structure to let the storage function more rational.
Thus, I separate the structure into two sections: steel linear skeleton and the upholstered fillers. However, I knew nothing about the metal welding at that time. If you take a close look at the photo, you will find that there’s a steel panel with hollow grids under the yellow foam. Do you recognize it? It is a grill basket for BBQ. Surprise.
Frankly speak, it is not that difficult to find a solid steel panel. I don’t know why I stuck to use the grill basket as the seating structure at that moment. Maybe I am a frenetic fan of BBQ in my unconscious. Anyway, I cut out all the steel wire I needed and asked the technician who worked in a metal shop to help me out.
Same process to the upholstered fillers. I went to a sewing factory, explained my design to the lady and picked up the cushions one day later. Then, I sandwiched the upholstered fillers into the steel skeleton, use the gap between two soft fillers to hold books. Besides, the outer layer of the skeleton is welded with some parallel steel wires, which has the function of decoration and storage at the same time.
