A chair that regenerates time and space to understand each other
People struggle to understand each other. It is impossible to think or feel in the way others do. Yet, why do we keep trying? Why do we want to understand how others are feeling? Why do we seek connections with others?
We humans cannot live by ourselves. That's what makes us human. We coexist. We connect. We support each other. We try to solve the seemingly impossible equation of the complexity of emotions.
Within the limited knowledge we have of others, it takes a lot of time and effort to try to understand each other. In our everyday lives where we are constantly being pressed with time, the time we spend and the space we create for each other get lost and forgotten.
This chair is designed to regenerate the lost time and space for anyone who is struggling but has not lost hope to understand others.
Product Description
These paired chairs are designed for people who want to listen to and understand each other but lack the time and space to do so. When sat on, the two chairs lean into each other, which resembles two people leaning in to listen to each other. Not only are they a metaphorical illustration of how people try to accept, respond to, and understand each other but also encourage the users to physically reduce the distance, which leads to closer emotional proximity. These chairs help us to regenerate the time and the space that are unrecalled and left behind in the consumed use of time in our daily lives.
Product Development Process
My initial idea was to create a backrest that could be attached to logs found in parks. I then elaborated on the regenerative backrest idea by focusing on the sense of connection and non-verbal communication. This idea was developed with an additional feature which enabled users to feel the vibration of each other's voices. This provided a sense of comfort, safety, and connection that could trigger more empathetic reactions towards each other. The idea I landed on was paired chairs that lean into each other when sat on. In the process of exploring the features and forms of the chair that aligned with the concept, I concluded that what I wanted to achieve was to help the users understand each other more in a natural way beyond verbal communication through a chair that regenerates time and space. This idea was inspired by depicting how people act and feel when they try to listen to each other.
For the structure, I tested various shapes that tilted the chair to the side. The most difficult part was getting the right angle that stop the chair from rocking over. In the end, I decided to simply cut off 2/3 of the area and add a counterweight to the other side so that it rocks back to its original position when the user gets up from the chair.
To build the chair, I used Blender and Rhino to create a 3D model and used CNC to build the chair. I split the model into layers and placed them on plywood, which were cut, glued, nailed together, and sanded. The future challenge is to achieve the rocking structure in an organic form to experiment with the weight and the form and to reduce the number of layers for more modularity and fewer materials.
