Swiss Mountain Chair

The Swiss mountain chair, also known as the Tyrolean chair or simply the "folk chair," is a loose collection of vernacular forms that emerged in and around central Europe in the late Middle Ages. The base is rustic, almost pure utility. The legs are usually tapered octagons, staked through the seat with wedged tenons. In contrast, the backs are often quite ornamented through elaborate hand carving of highly symbolic imagery.

My version leaves the base essentially untouched: staked octagonal legs, hand-shaped, with wedged tenons that poke through the seat. The back, however, is one output among many from a generative algorithm which produces a series of unique patterns carved with a CNC milling machine.

For the design of the back I landed on flow fields — a technique that ended up being perfect for generating smooth, playful curves with a wide aesthetic range. Once the pattern is generated, the lines are exported as vector graphics, then turned into a toolpath for a CNC milling machine.

The prototype was stained with black india ink, one of the oldest inks used for writing — a nod to the fact that the design process was something rather akin to creative writing. The majority of my input as a designer was in the form of language: from the javascript that generates the patterns, to the SVG output code, and finally to the G-code that instructs the CNC machine.