tomo chair
overview
what
TOMO CHAIR is a handcrafted, dual purpose chair designed by Margot Uchicua and I.
challenge
The assignment was to create a chair out of sheets of 8’x'4’ plywood. We decided to completely reimagine what a chair looks like, and came up with this. The name TOMO CHAIR comes from tomo the Greek prefix for slice. As a bonus, when flipped over the chair can act as a side table!
tools used
Plywood, glue, sand paper. Design made with Rhino 6 3D program, cut with CNC mill.
Branding
With the logo I wanted to put emphasis on the chair being made out of individual slices, so I abstracted that idea into the O’s in TOMO. I also made the logo a bit softer by rounding the edges of the logotype.
process
The chair was made for our Intro to 3D Design class final project. We started out studying everyday objects that people sat on. I was drawn to seatings that were not chairs, like huge rocks and swimming tubes. The next step was to work in the 3D modeling program, Rhino, and create some sketches of different chair ideas. I had the idea of making a spherical seat, made with thin pieces of wood. From there, I started working with my teammate Margot, and we came up with the TOMO CHAIR!
Initial 3D modeling, made using Rhino, and small scale prototype. With the Rhino sketch, we had to figure out a way to connect the pieces of wood together, which is what we tried to figure out with the small scale prototype.
Issues along the way
Once we started building the chair, many issues arose. One of the main issues was that we were not sure how we would connect all the pieces together. We wanted it to look like how our sketch did, so that you could see through the chair. We fixed this by using shorter pieces of wood to connect the chair together. As we added the smaller pieces of wood, we realized we would not have enough to finish the chair the way we planned. Editing our idea as we went along, TOMO CHAIR is the result of flexibility and determination to make a non-standard chair.
conclusion
Overall, I learned a lot from this project. Not only was it extremely satisfying to make something with my bare hands, but I also gained the experience of working with others on a project, learned how to use 3D modeling programs, and now have a chair that in my apartment that I made from scratch.
This chair was featured at the Manetti Shrem Museum at UC Davis for the pop-up exhibit Tools for Sitting. It was also a part of the 2019 Senior Show.
