Chairity 2018: “Sculptchair”

By Liza Karimova

When we first walked into TWO, our eyes were drawn to it: a soft paisley seat, four prancing legs, and a whirl of curves on its back. A short, tiny metal chair; a challenge, we recognized. A challenge that we ended up taking on.

Late last June, a few members from Feldman Architecture decided to participate in the annual “Chairity” event, spearheaded by TWO Furnish. Every year, “Chairity” invites designers from all disciplines to deconstruct, re-upholster and reinvent a used or forgotten chair, which is then auctioned off to raise money for charity. This year, the money was raised for Project Color corps, an organization that creates change by painting inner city neighborhoods, and Raphael House, which helps low-income families find stable housing and financial independence. Feldman Architecture were excited to participate in a design project that benefitted local organizations, and brought together a multitude of local designers.

Hence, a team of five – Johnny, Mike, Nick, Chris Kay and I (Liza) – showed up at the TWO showroom one evening to pick out their chair. Being the last to pick in the white-elephant style draw, the team ended up with the short, tiny metal chair; a challenge. Encouraged by the originality of the pick, and the fact that it was the only metal chair in the show, they decided to procrastinate for another many months, before finally attempting the transformation.

When the time came, the team started out by holding a few informal design charrettes. The common desire was to treat this project like an experiment, where there would be not successes and failures, just variations on a hypothesis.

Because of the nature of the raw material, which was not easy to work with given the lack of tools, the team agreed to focus on the seat of the chair after it was given a new powder coat. They took the paisley fabric, and decided that they would try to replicate this piece with different materials. Johnny etched the pattern on a wooden top, while the others cast concrete into fabric. The result was named “Sculptchair”.

The team used a combination of nylon and spandex, which was stretched between wood sheets to create the formwork. Fishing line and wire was tied underneath to create a mesh that would to push and pull on the fabric. Quick Crete was then poured into the resulting concave and convex form, and was left for a few days to set. The process was repeated with different fabrics and meshes.

At the chair auction, the description stated:
“Sculptchair” is an experimental exploration of the cushioned seat, which features interchangeable chair tops as a playful ode to our interaction with the sitting surface. While molding concrete into fabric, and engraving the original upholstery pattern into the seat, we have literally and figuratively pushed and pulled at the limits of comfort, treating the seat as an object in itself.

Although the chair did not win any prizes, the team had a lot of fun experimenting with wood and fabric-formed concrete. We tried to stay true to the materials and aesthetic that we use in our designs – humble and lasting.

Who knows, maybe we will participate again next year! We want to thank the rest of the members at Feldman Architecture for their encouragement, witty critiques, and their support!