Cutaway Bamboo Chair

Cutaway Bamboo Chair. Bamboo and glass. Model materials: bamboo, acrylic.  Development stage: scale model.

Furniture as interactive sculpture.

The Cutaway chair is meant to engage with the viewer in much the same way as a sculpture. The dramatic cross sections of the bamboo carved out to form the contours of the seat are eye catching. A slightly uneasy tension is created by the sharp angles of the backrest portion but is quickly assuaged once it's realized the glass seat provides the necessary barrier needed so it can be touched and sat on. Besides the necessary functionality, the glass seat also acts as a window into the interior of the chair providing a transparent barrier for safe viewing. This hearkens  back to the more associated use of glass in windows and the act of looking out a window.

Reinforcing the sculptural influence, a sculptor carving a block of stone was imagined. In this case a rectangular block of bamboo, bundled and adhered together replaces the block of stone and a saw replaces the stone chisels. The contour of the seat provides the cutting line, slicing clean through the bamboo block revealing a fascinating interior consisting of the exposed cross sectioned individual  stalks (culms).