Hasta La Ideas

As an example of the current trend for design schools to work with technology innovators, this past year RISD worked with recyclable glass/thermoplastic composite Twintex manufacturer Owens Corning. The resulting exhibition, Recyclable Composites, was on display during the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York.

Ernie Eun Sang Lee, one of the twelve students in the RISD class, produced the Perm Chair as his creation. The chair “started from the simple, honest response to the material,” in this case the hairdo of King Louis XV of France. What started off as a pile of “hair” was hardened into a rigid structure through heating. Lee was kind enough to share a behind-the-scenes look at the process of the Perm Chair. And—as you can see in the video—yes, he actually knit this entire chair.

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Overview

• Min Height: 22″
• Max Height: 48″
• Max Load: 250 lbs
• Electric (also available Incremental Leg, Hand Crank, Torsion Paddle, Standard Actuator)

Design
The Haworth Planes Height-Adjustable Table has a simple, utilitarian design with a customizable desktop. The significant advantage to this height-adjustable table design from the Haworth Design Studio is that the crossbeam has been moved up directly underneath the table top, which improves its accessibility and range of motion with no reduction of stability at full height extension. The trade-off for this stability seems to be weight—even the smaller version of this sturdy desk (23″ x 58″) is heavy enough to need two people to move it. However, the table has a very wide sit-to-stand range (22″ – 48″), and the raised crossbeam and two-leg design with low-profile feet improve accessibility for wheelchairs and users of different sizes and needs to the point where it exceeds ANSI/HFES 100-2007 requirements. Plus it has a motor and gear set that can handle a load up to 250 lbs, so it’s going to need some weight behind it.

Maximum & minimum table heights, with a 15″ laptop and 6 lb chihuahua for scale

The worktop can be laminate or wood veneer and is available in standard or Green core. Our table has the linen laminate top with the standard 3mm edgeband. The motor and mechanics are hidden within the legs, which keeps the lines cleaner. But there was a lack of anything more than clips for cable management under the table, which I found surprising.

The Programmable Actuator is once again utilitarian, but clear and easy to understand and can be mounted on the left or right side. There are buttons to save up to four different heights, and even if they’re all used up, you can still use the digital height readout (in inches) with the up/down buttons to memorize your preferred heights.

Overall the table gives the impression of being a high-quality piece of office equipment. But while the table top can be customized, the black and metallic finish on the legs seems intended to fade into the background.

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We’re liking the furniture of RISD graduate and Artists for Humanity mentor Jamison Sellers. Sellers’ motif is to utilize salvaged bolts of wood from pallets, shelving, and other sources and create careful, geometric patterns. The pattern—fitting to the terminology—is reminiscent of lightning bolts. His methodology reminds us of artist Duncan Johnson, who uses a similarly painstaking process.

Our favorite piece is the Pallet Chair. Simple, but beautiful, the dynamic motif on the chair almost looks like a textile instead of mere wood.

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Last summer when The Standard Hotel opened it’s rooftop bar overlooking the Hudson River and Manhattan cityscape, many New Yorkers were left ogling the stylish woven deck chairs, known in Mexico as the Acapulco Chair. The chair’s timeless ease in both design and comfort makes it an ideal candidate for reinvention, reinterpretation and global inspiration. A pedestrian eye can list its core qualities as: a metal frame, a rounded shape and a woven seat.

The classic Acapulco Chair was designed in Mexico around the 1950’s from steel and plastic. Many believe that the American Hollywood presence in Acapulco’s hey day made the chair popular. Some say the chair is based on Mayan hammock weaving but the design and its designer continues to remain anonymous to this day. It is said, though, that in 2000, the Mexican designer Cecilia Leon Dela Barra officially christened the chair as the “Acapulco Chair.”

These simple chairs rainbow Mexican resort towns in their vibrant plastic splendor and are becoming more common stateside with the help of the Brooklyn-based collective Greenpoint Works. Maya Marzolf of GW explains the chairs essence like this, “its rudimentary function is a sun lounger: The flexible cording cradles the body comfortably, and its open weave allows the breeze to cool your skin.”

Top: “Medio Dia Chair” by Sebastian Lara. Bottom: Leather Chair by Ocho Workshop

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Another recent RISD MFA Graduate, Alexandra Snook has a way with translucent white polypropylene. Bending it to her will and holding it with rivets, Snook creates flower petal-like layering in chair and lamp form. The organic forms conduct light in playful and intricate ways.

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