ELEVATE

Duration: 3 Weeks
Group Project
Project Overview
Build a chair out of two 2x2 m cardboard sheets, no glue, tape, nails or clamps. Just cardboard.
Process
Prototype - Test - Repeat  
Concept
Collaborators
James Finnegan & Sam Warren
With the world experiencing massive shifts of human populations due to war, persecution and poverty there is an ever increasing number of displaced people. Forced to leave their homes and carry whatever they can with them on their backs. Walking great distances to try and find a better future for themselves and their families.
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With the ELEVATE project we aim to create a robust chair that can be produced cheaply in high volume and rapidly. We also want a chair that can be easily transported in high numbers into where it needs to go.

The dignity a chair can give to an elderly person who might struggle to support their own body weight or a woman who needs somewhere to sit and feed her baby is simple but immeasurably important. A chair can become the gathering point of a family, a collection of chairs, a community. A sense of normality in an incredibly difficult situation.

Experiments & Exploration

Quick and dirty tests and playing with forms, trying to find ways to build strength into lightweight materials.

Inspiration

After some tests with forms I decided to do some research and see how others had approached similar design challenges. I found out that triangular structures are the strongest and large pieces that fold are best for structural integrity.

I also knew that I wanted to build something that was ergonomic and pleasurable to sit in for extended periods of time.

Design

Experimenting with different foldout models in miniature allowed us to test designs quickly.

When we wanted to test the strength of a structure we scaled up.

Testing the strength also allowed us the opportunity to get a feel for how the body would feel in terms of support and gave us instant feedback on what felt good and what areas we would need to change.

Using SketchUp, I was able to combine shapes to create complex folding structures. I then printed them out and was able to test them quickly on paper.

Almost there

We were happy with the design but things didn't quite fit together as desired. I changed the measurements to allow for the thickness of the cardboard and played around with different layouts to see if we could maximize the available space on the boards. Could something else be created with the leftover space?

Elevate chair with new dimensions with the different elements fitting flush against each other.

Final Design

Laying out the parts in a more fitted manner within the two 2x2 m cardboard sheets allowed me to find the space to create an extra multi-use pentagonal prism.

It could be used as a low to the ground seat, a foot stool while sitting in the chair or, alternatively a container for carrying food aid.

In Fusion 360 I converted the DWG. file to an DXF. file, which allowed me to laser cut it efficiently. I wanted to do this, to show that this process and design could be scaled up and readied for a cheap, efficient and mass roll out.

ELEVATE is a project that aims to take a cheap material like cardboard and with the help of good design, turn it into something valuable. A piece of furniture that has the goal of raising both tired bodies and diminished hopes up from off the floor.

Cardboard is a material that can be recycled between 5 and 7 times but not to forget, can also be repurposed. At the end of each Elevate chairs life, depending on what is most pressing, parts could be used as bedding or fuel. If not, they could be gathered up, while new ones are handed out and the old ones recast into the next generation of uplifting furniture.

APRIPOS DESIGN
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