2026S Design a Chair
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Diploma Week 1+2
Research Inquiry
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Tutorials March 20th
Designing a chair asking “Could a chair provide comfort through active interaction?”
The urge of getting a massage without the help of another person
Massage Chair
The interest in building a contraption that’s mechanically powered, with muscle power as a starting point
Fujiiryoki Automatic Massage chair from 1954 Making a chair multi purpose (more than just the support of your body and/or comfort)
Pedaling to improve bloodflow for thrombosis patients
Pedal powered sewing machine
Why this technique instead of classic bycicle pedals?
- Provides easier accessibility than the need of two legs for classic pedals
- Demands rhythm from the user, eventually leading to a “fidgeting” motion maybe improving concentration
- Rhythm makes a certain speed of the massage heads possible and keeps it consecutive
- Fulfills the idea of a rocking-pedal for thrombosis patients
Aesthetics
Rehab Chair by Xinyan Yang & Zhongfeng Zhang, College of Furniture and Art Design, ChinaToo much of a medical device design
Manufactum Massage Roller 
Wood for massage rollers, as a pleasant natural material for contact with the body, and general construction of the chair
Leather as natural, durable material for sitting surface and maybe armrests
Metal for mechanical parts, durable and exact to manufacture
Experience with all of these materials, also help is accessible in the university workshops
Alternative
A chair that uses the own body weight with massage surfaces / hand flatterers etc. to provide additional comfort
Surfaces individually carved from wood
Problem:
Formulate a question regarding the brief – what kind of investigative stance could this chair take?
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Team 8 feedback 1
1. Inspiration
∙ Performance, material, and reading as starting points
∙ The chair as an object of exploration and interaction
∙ Speculative redesign of everyday objects through bio-based processes
2. Waste & Material
∙ Objects as part of a natural waste and growth cycle
∙ Grown from natural materials → decomposing back into soil
∙ Use of raw, minimally processed materials
∙ Co-creation with materials: the unpredictability of growth as a stylistic and design device
3. Labor & Production
∙ Artisanal objects serve a small elite; industrial production offers wider availability but exploits workers
∙ Question: how can production be both accessible and non-exploitative?
∙ Growing as an alternative production model beyond human labor
4. Availability & Access
∙ Community hubs and trading stations as a distribution model
∙ Question: do objects need longevity if they can be produced without labor?
∙ Decentralised, collective infrastructure for production and distribution
5. Form & Sitting
∙ Material exploration: growing material into molds
∙ Testing molds made from different materials
∙ Reusing and integrating every part of the process
∙ More-than-human sitting → interspecies resting
6. Process & Visibility
∙ Making the process visible: showing and using every object involved
∙ The molds themselves as part of the project narrative
∙ Circular thinking: no object remains invisible or is discarded
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Solo 2 (20.03)
Research and general inspirations
During my research i found out I’m mostly interested in :
- Movement
- Social aspects of sitting
- Absurdity
Social non-smoking bench
A bench that allows non-smokers to socialize with smokers without suffering from the smoke.
Using moveable elements and height to avoid smoke for non-smokers.
Finding an activity for non-smokers.
Blending a wind vane in the design.
Political mythical chair
Inspired by a story from Shahname (book of kings), relating to recent political events.
The choice of sitting on the chair is yours, collapsing and getting trapped is just part of the deal (:
A chair that makes you feel comfortable and powerful until it collapses slightly and traps you.
Using analog mechanism.
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Tutorial March 20
“Passing on“
Feminism from mothers to daughters
Hlabisa Bench – Mash T. Design studio x Houtlander
inspired by potjie pot of her grandmother and Zulu weaving skills passed down for generations
Passing on attidute rather than skills
Marianne Wex – Let’s Take Back Our Space
What if the chair was built only for and by women?
Key question:
“Whose fight/story are you sitting on?”
-> sitting on but also avoiding doing something
empowerment vs. disempowerment
Personal feeling: both (MeToo, awareness, Trump, Epstein etc.)
Modularity
Growing in length/height/number of people
Layers: building up on vs. deconstructing the past
materials:
wood – different ages, different tones, upholstery, linoleum
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Tutorial 20.03.26
Reasearch:
Furniture Design influences posture and has effects on Peoples wellbeing (physically and emotionally).
Early Inspiration
Loop Chair, Willy Guhl 
Sitzmaschiene, Joseph Hoffmann 
Pratone Chair, Giorgio Ceretti, Pietro Derossi, and Riccardo Rosso 
Tempered Chair, Ron Arad 
Chaise Lounge Chair, Le Cobusier 
DIY Chair, Ritveld 
Human-sized nests, Porky Hefer –> found my interest in adaptable systems for individual needs, functional design, finding comfort in furniture and built-in movement capability
1) A Handcrafters Chair
2) How can seating be personalized to each individual?
modular seating system inspired by calisthenics
3) Instead of restricting stimming, supporting it through design
–> Stimming often appears with neurodivergent persons. It`s short for self-stimulatory behaviour and refers to repetitive movements or sounds people use to regulate themselves.
tryout of movement 
“ADHD chairs”
aesthetic and functional inspirations for “egg chair”
Spider Launge Chair, Pierre Paulin 
Papasan Chair 
Roly Poly Chair, Faye Toogood 
Bowlchair, Lina Bo Bardi -
20.03.2026
feedback 05.03.2026
- children want what they see: other kids’ toys, advertisements, …
- primal emotions | underlying emotions: anger and fear
- societal stereotyping
- dealing with emotions — practices
- boys and anger | boys and sadness | anger in kids! (changes over the last 20 years?)
- female anger: directing the project maybe to women and not girls?
- behavioral experts
research
»the urge to exact revenge derives from our desire for cosmic balance, as well as from our attempts to overcome helplessness through displays of power.«
— philosopher martha nussbaum
revenge rights the scales, despite doing nothing to restore what was lost or repair what was damaged
- anger generally arises from a sense of being wronged and is hostile to understanding, which is why we say »rage is blind«
- anger makes you more confident & obliterates other: 2001 study by j. lerner & d. keltner found that feeling angry makes people as optimistic as feeling happy (about the outcome of a situation)
- political rhetoric suggests that without anger there is no powerful engagement, anger is a sort of gasoline that runs the engine of social change
- anger helps us protect what’s ours — feeling in charge & focussing
- motivates to solve problems — is triggered when we face an obstacle/something that blocks our needs
- can often trigger optimism — geared toward what is attainable, not impossible
who has the right to be angry?
the right to be angry is masculine — forgiveness is feminine
anger in men: authority, strength
anger in women: hysteria, irrationality
anger in marginalized groups: threatening, dangerous
power dynamics
expressions of rage are a means of exercising control over others & asserting status, a status defined in parts by the right to dominate: parents, bosses, police officers, husbands, …
anger emerges from three interacting factors:
- a provocation (the trigger)
- the interpretation of the provocation
- the mood at the time
»I don’t get angry …« (no yelling, hitting …) — that means not getting aggressive, not not getting angry — individuals show their anger in many different forms, just like sadness
release anger? study anger? control anger? give permission for anger? make inequality visible? suppress anger even more? express anger early on? condition certain emotions?
many questions and thoughts where this project could and should go 🙂
how can female anger be translated into measurable physical force? how do societal norms shape the perception and acceptance of this force?
measuring force — »Hau den Lukas«, boxing machine, …
situated between critique and play, I want my project to use humor and exaggeration to make inequalities visible whilst also being food-for-thought. anger is a powerful emotion & I want to work against its bad reputation as solely »negative emotion«.
measuring power (of anger); frustration; showing power dynamics/systematic oppression/how different power is looked at gender-wise
further steps
- prototyping & testing
- questionnaire/interviews about experiencing anger(suppression) as a woman
