chairs — Michele Hratko

Colorblock Modular Chairs

This project began as an assignment to create a modular environment. I chose to create portable, modular picnic chairs. The assignment ended with little paper prototypes of the chairs, but I decided to continue on my own and make full-scale cardboard prototypes.

Fabrication
Time: July – September 2023
Role: Sole designer
Tools: Cardboard, Spray paint

Each chair has only three pieces, the base, the back rest, and a table, so the user can construct the chair themselves, making the experience more engaging. Users can also mix and match colors across sets to customize their chair. Because the chairs are modular, you could hypothetically connect as many chairs as you would like. To make the chairs portable, they are designed as a flat pack where each piece can be separated and laid flat and then assembled on-site if you were to bring them to the beach or on a picnic.

I constructed the chairs out of double-layered cardboard for stability and spray painted them. The cardboard was not as durable as I would have liked, and while I like the concept of a recyclable cardboard chair, they would need to be made out of a stronger material to be more practical. Each chair doesn't use a lot of material though because the arm rest is made out of the cut out from the base of the chair!

Sketchbook Process

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