The document outlines the process of designing and building a cardboard chair. It describes 3 top concepts for the chair design, including one that works like an accordion and another made from a single piece with slits. For the final chair, the designer evolved the top concept of a single-piece design. The final prototype mimicked a one-piece design using a double structure and honeycomb for the seat. While testing showed the seat withstood weight, it had a tendency to fold into the structure. Future improvements included stabilizing the seat and backboard and enlarging the overall size.

1. RTA Chair:
Process
By: Irene Bashar

2. Stage 1: Connections + Choosing Final
Concept

3. Original Concepts:
My preferred connections were slits,
interlocking and folding.

4. Concept Sketches:

5. Concept Sketches (Con’t.):

6. Top Concept #1:
Note:
The chair is made out of one piece, and is
connected with one slit.
The structure wasn’t as stable when there
was weight on top, so a future challenge
would be to strengthen the structure without
compromising the one-piece design.

7. Top Concept #2:
Note:
This chair works like an accordion.
One idea was to insert a seat into the folds and
have it be able to contract and expand, and
possibly seat multiple people.

8. Top Concept #3:
Note:
This was made from one piece and one slit.
The slits were actually fairly strong, so one
idea that came up was being able to design
the chair in such a way that the “fringe”
could be both the seat and the backboard.

9. Stage 3: Building the Final Chair

10. Final Concept:
Note:
This prototype was
supposed to have the
feel of a chair designed
from one piece.
This was an evolution of
Top Concept #1.
In this prototype, the
design seemed flimsy
but surprisingly
withstood a
considerable amount of
weight.

11. Final Concept (Con’t.):
Note:
This chair has a simple structure. It takes inspiration
from Top Concept #1- building a chair from one piece
of cardboard.
Although the pieces of cardboard weren’t large enough,
this design was supposed to mimic the feel of a one-
piece chair. A double structure was used to add more
support, and honeycomb was used to make the seat
stronger.

12. Final Concept (Con’t.):
Note:
The chair was tested by 5
different people. One recurring
problem was that the seat held
up, but it seemed like it might
fold into the structure. As
improvement in the future,
having a more stable seat and
backboard would help elevate
the chair’s design. In addition,
making the chair larger would
make it feel less child-like.