As a follow-up project for the Design to Build class students were asked to think of some design strategies to better improve the corridor space for Voorhees Hall 8th floor. As a class we thought of display space and presentation space improvements, areas for seating, areas for eating, and social areas to engage students with one another.

As a team Henry, Asli and I thought of a few things to greatly change the look of the 9th floor. One design that I found interesting and worked with Henry to make it a reality was the thought of a multipurpose chair or seat for the students and architectural studies staff.

Here’s a link to Henry’s page which shows his part in the development of the chair iteration: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/kingarch4831designtobuild/fall-2016/henry/h-voorhees-hall-iteration-5-chair/

The chair iteration was to be multipurose with a pivoting backrest for comfortability in mind. that backrest would then fold on its pivot in order to configure itself as either a chair, stool, table or display for the students and professors.

From that rendering and with the help of Rhino and CNC milling, Henry and I worked together to have a model that expressed our ideas.

Visiting Home Depot to find the proper parts and support for the chairs design.

When planning to create something from scratch things like cost, time, and assembly matter most.

https://youtu.be/El8BDTZLzJs

Parts milled from CNC router. Most if not all parts were milled within 20 to 30 minutes.

Before and after of the chairs backrest. Left shows a finished part from the mill that has been sanded, the right is a milled part unsanded.

The final result…

Chair Iteration Completed!

Chair iteration converted into a table or display space.

View of the back

What’s next…

An improvement on the design of the chair so that it is more affordable, easier to fabricate and assemble. We are also exploring the idea of making this chair wall mounted to accommodate more space for students and teachers alike. Also the presentation boards, they will have storage designs that will tie into the chair design so that seating and presentation are not the only two uses.