david lee: the continual chair

‘the continual chair’ designed by david lee

‘the continual chair,’ designed by david lee, of metous studio, transforms a common object into the site of physical dialogue between past, present, and future users.

set in a grid, each of 123 tubes can be pushed down to any height, permitting users to construct their own unique space. over time these transformations necessarily flatten the chair completely, at which point it can be flipped over and the process begun anew.

example evolution of the chair

the chair prior to any user interaction

pushing down on individual tubes sets them at the desired height

chair in mid-transformation

over time, user interaction will flatten the chair completely

raising the legs in preparation for flipping the chair over to begin the process anew; in this way, the chair can continually be retransformed

detail of chair leg

artist rendering of capabilities for transformation

artist rendering of chair in use