bentwood lounge
For my final project in school, I was tasked with designing and building a piece of wooden furniture. The rest was up to me.
I chose to pursue a lounge chair made from curved pieces, intended to mimic classic rattan and bamboo furniture from the Philippines.
I surrounded myself with inspiration and began sketching and creating miniature models.
Modeling was not only useful for form development, but it also allowed me to test methods of constructing each piece.
To give the chair a unique balance and simplify the form, I built the back, leg, and seat frame from the same mold.
By reusing the same mold to create each piece, I saved material and allowed for continuity. I began with a test model to nail down proportions, using 4 sheets of 3/8” construction plywood at 1/2” thick to create my layered pieces.
Once the test model was complete, I had my classmates test the ergonomics.
With a few simplifications to the molds, I began to construct my final model, this time using 12 layers of 1/8” Baltic Birch plywood for added strength and overall aesthetics.
