INDRE Dining Chair
I lived in Copenhagen, Denmark for 6 weeks. There I learned about Scandinavian principles of life and design. The result was an ash wood dining chair with a woven seat made from Danish paper cord.
Summer 2025
Timeline: 6 weeks
DIS Copenhagen
Timeline: 6 weeks
DIS Copenhagen
STUDY TOUR INSPIRATION - Finland and Sweden
Along with being surrounded by architecture and design in Copenhagen, our class of 33 people went to Finland and Sweden for 5 days. We had the opportunity to visit Aalto University, Alvar Aalto's studio and tuberculosis sanitarium, the Bruno Mathsson Center, and Karl Andersson & Söner.
THINKING
I wanted to make a chair: four legs, a back, and a seat. I enjoyed the proportions of a dining chair I have in my home. As the design naturally unfolded, there was an element that would drive the rest of the construction and design; a 90º cut in the legs. I learned about sensible construction from my teachers and visiting showrooms in Copenhagen.
PROTOTYPES
1:10 scale model. 1:1 scale cardboard model built in my flat's dining room. Practiced weaving on the cardboard model with thicker string and pins acting as the L nails used on the wood later.
1:1 DRAWING
Front, side, and top view. Shows end grain, joinery methods (domino, dowels, mortise and tenon was later decided to be a domino joint as well), and angles.
FABRICATION - WOOD
Back legs made from solid pieces of wood. The shape was made with the band saw, jointer, router, and belt sander. 90º cut in the legs made from several 1/8" passes across the router. Backrest should have had a slight curve cut into it; forgotten in the rush of finishing.
FABRICATION - WEAVING THE SEAT
Warp threads (front to back) used knots instead of L nails to secure the paper cord to the seat frame. I wove one continuous cord. Weft threads (side to side) used L nails to easily weave across the seat without having to pull the entire length of cord through each pass.
