Rising from the laboratories of Environmental Design, the FrankenStuhl aims to challenge ideals of modern luxury while radically simplifying the manufacturing process. Low material cost, reduced fabrication waste, a modular design, and ease of transport were the objectives that guided the creation of this slightly freakish, and perhaps somewhat monstrous chair.
Material cost is minimized through the sourcing of accessible and lowly materials from local hardware stores. Plywood, All-thread, nuts and bolts; all materials present in the chair are familiar to the user and reject notions of materiality. The chair is fabricated with a CNC router allowing for machined consistency and provides options for replication. In order to minimize the waste stemming from this process, the CAD files used were designed to utilize entire sheets of plywood with no wasted space in between cut lines. When not in use, the chair can be disassembled and compacted into a 2’x2’ square allowing for easy transport and storage. The creation of individual chair modules provides the user the ability to adjust the size of the chair as needed.
By creating the FrankenStuhl, I hope to raise questions about the capitalist quest for extravagance through the use of modern technologies and the elevation of economical materials.