LCR Chaise Lounge Reversible
Jan 14th, 2008 by contributor
Design Within Reach collaborated with CU Boulder and Denver Architecture and Planning students to design and fabricate eco-friendly modern furnishings and fixtures with emphasis on embodied energy, life-cycle, materials and minimal waste. For those who were unable to attend this event last December, Boulderspace will be showcasing these designs on the blog.
Contributor Jonathan E. Tucker describes the inspiration and design process behind the LCR Chaise Lounge Reversible:
The inspiration for my design is the LC4 Chaise Lounge designed by Le Corbusier. I wanted to create a lounge chair with more than one position, without using any kind of hardware or mechanisms to adjust the positions. I came up with a base on which the seat would rest that has two different angles at each end that correspond to proportions and dimensions of the seat. This allows the seat to be more upright facing one direction on the base, and reclined when it faces the opposite direction on the base. Simply by reversing the seat on its base, two different positions are achieved.
The initial proposal was, in reflection, excessively bulky, heavy and cumbersome (particularly the base). The following iterations all focused on using as little material as possible, and yet still be strong enough to support the chair. The idea was to create a light, sleek and simple base that almost disappears beneath the elegant shape of the seat to evoke the illusion that the seat floats in space. Further effort was also spent reducing the weight of the seat itself, since this would need to be picked up and flipped to adjust positions.
The base and seat frame are made entirely from Plyboo® bamboo plywood. Bamboo is a rapidly renewable plant source, and the plywood contains no VOCs or formaldehyde. CNC routing was used to precisely realize the intricate curves of the design, utilizing emerging technologies to limit material waste. No hardware or fasteners are used; all joinery is mortise-and-tenon, held with glue containing no toxic resins or VOCs. The bamboo is finished with a natural citrus paste wax. The seating surface, to which the upholstery is attached, is made from a material called Gridcore®, an engineered molded cellulose fiber board. This material is made from 100% post-consumer paper waste and agricultural waste, which is heat-pressed using binders containing no formaldehyde, toxic resins or VOCs. I used a lamination process to bend this board into the shape of the seat. I then outsourced the upholstery , which is synthetic leather per cost constraints, but would ideally be genuine leather.
I would like to further explore furniture/industrial design, but the project has most inspired me to continue studying environmental sustainability and its applications in architecture. This will likely be my focus when choosing graduate schools and employment.