zip-tension chair 

PennDesign 2014
Seminar Instructor - Katrin Mueller-Russo
Designer - Luke Prifogle

The main principle of the chair is how the arms react in tension. In the first prototype, the flowing curves were created by being put in tension by other strips. This principle informs the final design. The frame that holds the seat and back, and also forms the arms, gets put “in tension” by leather bands that accentuate the form.

The assembly method of the chair is called zip-shape. A method developed by Schindler Salmerón where grooves are cut into a material in a specific way that when put together, they zip into a bend. This method requires no mold, therefore creating a new way to bend materials. A grasshopper script takes a curve and then calculates the grooves in a flat line that then allows the material to be cut by a cnc router or something similar.