Origin
I've been mulling over the design for 3 years but the major start of the project was, rather poetically, at the end of it's life.
I visited a recycling plant to work out what designers do wrong when designing for the circular economy.
Here I learned the 2 best materials for recycling are cardboard and Aluminium.
System
The chair is bought as a box.
You unpack the frame and secure the box to the frame.
After using the chair for 5 years the box can be replaced with any cardboard and the worn box can be recycled.
After 20-50 years the aluminium frame can be recycled into a waste stream with near 100% retention
Design
To minimise weight and size for shipping I ran hundreds of simulations on the frame.
The back is designed to brace the areas which most pressure is exerted on whilst allowing for deformation of the board around the buttocks and arms.
The Legs slot together to reduce space and can hold over 100kg.
Sketches
The early challenge was defining the shape, I looked to the comfort of Dieter Rams compartmentalised style with defined spaces for each product to occupy.
The cube was surprisingly effective from an anthropometric standpoint as it cradles the human form.
As a Designer chairs are an inevitability. My tutor at Falmouth always asked "why does the world need another chair?". In the case of the alison chair its to demonstrate a point.
The area which stands to gain the most from sustainable design is transport of products.