Visible Structures Armchair

Description

This striking armchair’s base materials are cardboard and foam, weak and humble materials which are then reinforced and transformed with a special, industrial-strength graphite (carbon) tape. The graphite tape strengthens the cardboard and foam externally through exceptionally strong crystalline fibers formed from aligned carbon atoms. This design’s soft middle and supportive outer structure reverses the standard traditionally stuffed chair where the supportive structure is typically on the interior. By using base materials frequently found in today’s world, nendo proves that high-end design need not be made of entirely rare or expensive materials, and that it can be environmentally conscious. This work, and its related series Visible Structures, was commissioned for the High’s Modern by Design exhibition in 2011.