This project was the most fun and entertaining of the semester in my opinion. As per the project instructions, I set out thinking about what design would be best suited to be able to sustain Anna.
I did not fulfill all of the project requirements because I did not do any small scale prototyping or sketches. That is not to say I did not want to, but I knew what exactly I wanted to do to make a productive cardboard chair.
In my research before construction started, I found a perfect example of the design I wanted to use. This came in the form of a ‘Finish It Yourself’ build-your-own chair kit by green entrepreneur David Graas (pictured below). Essentially you could buy his kit, which came precut, finish the cuts, and assemble it. It is pictured to be able to sustain a child.
For my needs, I needed it to be able to sustain a bit more weight and I knew that in order to get it to do that, I would have to strengthen some areas and build up on others. In order to get the intended results, I used double corrugated cardboard throughout, and added additional slats in the seat portion as well as in the back (pictured below).
The chair performed beautifully and outperformed quite a bit of the competition. Though a petite girl isn’t too much of a challenge, I wanted to put it to the test and invited another classmate that stated he weighed in about 320 pounds come sit in it. The result is that the chair took the weight no problem and is still standing regardless of the abuse it was thrown!
Brian's Story on the Web 