ezri tarazi: free falling mannequin chair

'free falling' (red), 2011 by ezri tarazi
image courtesy of paradigma design gallery


designboom is currently in tel aviv as part of vibe israel, funded by non-profit apolitical social startup kinetis
which strives to promote the culture, people, resources and creativity of israel through different events
and organized tours of specialized areas, and this time it's about design! throughout our trip we have been
visiting various studios, museums and meeting a number of individuals - from those who have been practicing
for some time to the up and coming creatives - as a means of experiencing and getting a behind the scenes look
at what this middle eastern country has to offer in terms of design talent. 

as part of our tour, we stopped off at paradigma design gallery which hosts a showcase of work
by israeli designers including designboom's good friend, the founder of studio tarazi ltd. and head of the
industrial design department at bezalel academy of art and design in jerusalem, ezri tarazi.



image courtesy of paradigma design gallery


tarazi is presenting a new work, still in its prototype phase called 'free falling'. the seating object is produced by
transforming a trapezoidal box made from perforated metal sheets into a chair, as a result of a female mannequin
filled with concrete, being dropped freely onto the three dimensional, hollow form. the action of dropping this
100 kg mannequin shapes the seat through air pressure that has been released through the material's holes.
tarazi's concept for the piece was to create a chair made by the 'human figure' without any tools.

in design history, a number of metal chairs were produced by press of heavy industrial machines or hand tools,
but 'free falling' was made solely by the sitting mannequin. the work is meant to suggest a number of interpretations,
but above all to raise the question about the role of design and human interaction today.



the mannequin ready to be hoisted up above the trapezoidal form made of perforated metal



the appearance of the chair after the 100 kg concrete filled mannequin has been dropped on top of the trapezoidal form



alternative views of the dropped mannequin



before and after



video of the process



'free falling' (white), 2011 on show at paradigma design gallery in tel aviv, israel
image © designboom



side view of 'free falling' (white)
image © designboom



top view
image © designboom