DIY designer chair

You needn’t study industrial design or even be proficient with a hammer to make your own chair. With soon-to-be-released software, anyone will be able to take a seat – in their very own design.

SketchChair, a project by New Zealand design studio Diatom, will be released worldwide as a free and open-source system soon, having been funded by Kickstarter (the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects).

Not only does the technology allow you to design your ideal chair, but once the design phase is complete, users can send off their designs to online digital manufacturing services or local community workshops to be cut. The flat-pack piece can then be assembled by hand. Pretty nifty, right?

The SketchChair software uses a simple 2D drawing interface, automatically generating the structure of a chair and testing its stability. Users can simulate sitting on a chair with a customisable figure of themselves, in order to test and refine the chair to ensure it will comfortably support them.

The software automatically generates cutting profiles for the chairs, which can then be used to make physical SketchChairs. Using a CNC router, laser cutter or paper cutter, these parts can be cut from any suitable flat sheet material, and then easily assembled by hand.

Also, you will be able to upload the chair designs you’ve created online. These designs can then be downloaded and altered by other users, allowing the designs to constantly evolve as people continually refine and modify them. It’s an exciting kind of online sharing community, which will not only promote design but also create a worldwide virtual design studio where chair designers openly take inspiration from each other.

By designing your own chair, according to your own specific needs and desires, there’s a greater chance you’ll cherish the piece for longer. Because each SketchChair will be a flat-pack design, they’re also easy to transport and store, and therefore likely to be kept. In this way, the SketchChair software is also likely to lessen the carbon footprint of the designer (and consumer), decreasing the need for new chairs.

More information: www.diatom.cc, www.sketchchair.cc, www.kickstarter.com/projects/diatom/sketchchair-furniture-designed-by-you