imm cologne 2011: pressed chair by harry thaler

‘pressed chair’ by harry thaler image © designboom

created out of a single sheet of aluminum, ‘pressed chair’ by london-based designer harry thaler explores the bounds of minimalism with its efficient use of materials.

previewed at tent london during london design festival 2010 and now featured at imm cologne 2011, the design took ex-equo first prize in this year’s international [D3] competition for young designers, alongside studio akka’s ‘ola‘ folding table.

at left, the stamped chair, before being bent into shape; to its right, the chairs in their final forms

the chair’s form is pressed into a 2.5mm thick square meter sheet of aluminum, which is then bent into the proper shape. although light enough to be lifted with just two fingers, it contains no joints or connectors and requires no external structural support. instead, its strength comes from the form of the chair itself, along with its relief details.

composed of a single sheet of 2.5mm-thick aluminum, the stackable chair is extremely lightweight

further exploring efficiency in resource use, thaler created a stool from the scrap materials of the chair’s production process. although similar in concept and form to the chair, the stool consists of not one but three pieces of aluminum, held together by screws.

detail view of the chair relief, which adds both structural stability and visual interest image © designboom

the stools at left are created from scrap materials from the chair’s production process image © designboom

thaler first developed ‘pressed chair’ last year as a student at london’s royal college of art.

detail view of the pressed model before being bent into shape image © designboom

detail view of ‘pressed chair’ from above image © designboom

left: full view of ‘pressed chair’ right: thaler himself demonstrates that despite their light weight, the relief details and structure of the chairs make them sturdy