[sound]. >> Stanford University. [sound]
>> This class is an advanced level design class, where students
get a chance to design and fabricate a chair. [sound]
Chairs are extremely complex entities and many people have told us that designing a
chair in ten weeks is impossible. [sound] >> It's balancing engineering, ergonomics
and aesthetics all at once, and as you're building the chair you have to rapidly
shift between those modes of thought. [sound] As a design student there's
really nothing I've done that was quite as holistic a challenge as this.
>> We'll sketch out a number of ideas and then very quickly get into the
shop and start actually prototyping those ideas. [sound] We have workshops so they
learn things like fiberglass forming, or plywood molding, or carving, wood joinery,
[sound] tig welding for the steel frames. [sound] There's a tremendous variety of
chairs. No two chairs in the class are even similar. >> My chair's a lounge chair
so it's made of bent ply on the top. And then, the base is bent steel. >> My chair
is a concrete and glass chair. It's surprisingly light. It's probably more of
one that would be in a set around the dining table outside. >> My chair is based
of the concept of a wooden i-beam. So it has two frames constructed out of walnut
that has been routed out. >> My chair is named The Dolores. It's colored with a
light green fabric and some blonde maple wood. >> I thought that a class in chair
design would be a great opportunity for the students to make something that's
iconic and that has a long history in the world of design. [sound]
>> I think there is a lot of room for creativity in design, in chairs. So after
this, I want to build more chairs and do this sort of chair and that sort of chair.
There's just so many ways you can approach it. >> I guess I'm taking away a great
memory of having worked really hard on something
that I now get to keep for the rest of my life.
>> For more, please visit us at stanford.edu.
