The Chair Studio is RISD ID's classic design and build course in furniture design and human factors that teaches students how to consider ergonomics and practice fabrication alongside the design process.

This chair is about two things:

1. Inspiration from traditional forms and materials
2. Different levels of flexibility in the chair: Seat, Back and Frame

The entire chair frame breaks down into flat elements that can be packed in a box approximately 3 inches thick. The flex or movement in the chair comes from the development of controlled flexibility in the metal frame, the ability of the leather straps to conform to the user's body and the resiliency of the laminated bamboo slats. Every bamboo strip was individually glued in a heavy duty veneer press, trimmed, sanded and finished.

The frame uses a combination of formed, machined, welded components. Parts are welded where they do not need to come apart, and machined at the ends of the cross stretchers so that they have tensile and rotational resistance. The frame structure was driven by a functional basis, but was also developed through my aesthetic preferences.