Tutorial 15.04.2026

By

Valentin Hofer

“Do we as designers still need to design new chairs?”

“Husse” (Chair cover)

We are NOT designing the elevated structure, where you put the weight of your body…

…but we are designing a chair.

A chair is not just a physical construction, it’s a way to express yourself and a tool that allows you to make a place your own.

Where are we designing this chair?

We have chosen the context of park benches to deal with following question:

“Who owns public space?”

Project references

  • Doris Salcedo
  • Joseph Kosuth “one and three chairs”
  • Christo and Jeanne-Claude

Next steps

  • Tryouts with fabric, stuffing material and different fabric-techniques
  • Where can we get our material?
  • How can we exhibit a project like this? Video, Photo,…
  • Long term: Is it gonna be a “tool” or installation

Why is this design investigations?

Design Investigations is about asking questions.

Our project questions the traditional industrial design-view of what a chair design has to contain:

an elevated structure, where you put the weight of your body

Investigating the meaning of a chair through a sett of chair covers also have an element of absurdity that we want to delve into.

By placing the chairs in a public park, Stadtpark, we take a position at the same time as we ask the question who owns public space?

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