The slide chair is the result of a parametric process in Grasshopper, a visual programming interface for Rhino. The idea was to build a chair from simple, affordable materials, that is shaped to be well fitting to the human body.
Not only the material but also the production and assembly should be as simple as possible. All parts of the chair are made from birch plywood and produced using a CNC mill.
There is no need for screws or glue.
THe whole process is based on three lines. One line defines the sitting area, the other two the legs. These lines can be adjusted to whatever shape is desired.
The script develops all pieces needed for the chair from those three lines and gives out a ready-to-cut dxf file for the CNC.
The most import part of the design are the so-called slides, the connecting pieces between legs and seating. Each slide is unique and adapts to the shape of the chair. The slides` bridge is only 3 mm and disappears in a pocket.
The script also analyses the curvature of the seat. Based on the slope, a pattern of parallel lines is created. The stronger the slope, the closer the denser is the pattern.
This pattern is milled into the plywood, taking away half of the material (3 mm) and makes it possible to bend the plywood into its final shape.
For the future, the shape of the chair needs to be optimized. Also, the construction technique could be used in other scenarios, for example to build molds for prefabricated concrete pieces that are spcially curved.
The slide chair was part of the Thonet 200 | Innovation exibition at Lippisches Landesmuseum Detmold.