Enter the Flat Pack Jeanneret.
The iconic Easy Chair that Pierre Jeanneret designed for Chandigarh seemed like a perfect subject to flip. The originals are increasingly rare and only exist in finite numbers thanks to skilled artisans who made them by hand out of local materials. By changing everything except the silhouette of the chair itself - starting with the the color, the material, and the assembly process of the piece - I was able to change the context and ethos of the piece entirely.
Color
Inspired by International Klein Blue, I wanted to ensure the piece looks unnatural and incredibly vibrant, while also ensuring a level of uniformity and consistency unimaginable with the hand-made originals.
Material
The chair was 3D printed in New York through fused filament fabrication (FFF Plastic). 3D printing with FFF plastic immediately came to mind as the most non-traditional and easily replicable production method available. At the same time, this process decreased each chair’s material demands and manufacturing footprint by using an additive process, meaning there was no need to cut away excess material or waste to create the shape. Using 3D printed FFF plastic every single piece of the chair can be identical to each other chair, removing all variation and uniqueness from one chair to another - one of the hallmarks of the originals in Chandigarh.
Assembly
Flat packing is so ubiquitous now across pricepoints and levels of design that there was really no other way for the chair to come together or be delivered - it had to be flat packable. This was the toughest part to engineer, since the original design is meant to be assembled and delivered as one unified piece, but it is well worth it for the feeling of being a necessary element to the creation of your own piece. Hopefully people feel a greater sense of accomplishment in assembling the Flat Pack Jeanneret than stress or aggravation from assembling various Ikea furniture pieces.