Wanas Chair

The design and process of making Wanas were guided by a series of core questions I wanted to explore:
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• Asymmetry: We usually sit asymmetrically, yet most chairs are symmetric and support a narrow way of sitting. What if I build an asymmetric chair that supports unconventional seating positions?
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• Connection: When talking to people, we often sit at a slight angle to face them. What if the chair's geometry could gently encourage this connection?
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• Simplicity: Most collapsible chairs require hardware. What if I could design a mono-material chair that assembled without any?
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• Iteration: To test these ideas, the fabrication process itself needed to be adaptable. How could I iterate on the design quickly and efficiently?

Designing the joint:

As I moved through the laser cut prototypes, I explored the possibility of designing a snap fit joint to eliminate hardware and for ease of assembly. Getting the design of joints right was critical; so I prototyped the joint first using plywood and tested the design concept.

The joints held up well and the snaping in and out worked well, but after test I noticed a crack near the end of the joint finger. To solve that:

1. I double the thickness of the side frame from one plywood sheet to 2.
2. I Increased the minimum thickness of the joint.

Full scale model 1:

After testing the joint and feeling confident the design can hold the weight, I moved to making my first full scale model on the wood CNC. I was eager to test the concept with people!

I was glad people enjoyed the chair and experimented with multiple seating positions on it. This helped me narrow down what to focus on for the next iteration.

Issues I needed to resolve: 

1. The racking
2. Back cushion is crucial
3. People were bumping into parts of the frame when moving around the chair.
4. A foot rest for shorter people and to make it easy to lift one foot up.

Before cutting the second prototype, I experimented with adding a foot rest using a clamp and I even added a beam in the back to reduce racking.

Full scale model 2:

• Split the inner frames into smaller pieces to save space on the board.
• Doubled the thickness of the armrest.
• Replaced three seat beams with one piece.
• Added footrest and back brace.
• Noted shopbot inaccuracy due to actual tool diameter and direction of cut.
• Resulted in a sturdy, stable chair with almost no racking.

Final Chair build: 

Changes between the second model and final chair: 

1. Increased width of foot rest.
2. Decreased the width of the mortise by 0.01 inches and increased the gap inside the joints by the same amount to dial in the joint mechanism.
3. Upholstery.
4. Used Red Oak plywood.

Materials run

Final model and measurements

Machining

Upholstery

Finishing and Assembly

Wanas: