the cord chair is a result of a collaboration between nendo and maruni. made from hard maple and steel, the aim was to show off the flawlessness of the wood material, instead of exposing the chair’s underlying metal frame. to achieve this they decided to hollow out each piece of wood to clad the steel structure.

nendo’s design is derived from their exploration of the relationship between materials like metal wiring within an electrical cord and the rubber that encases it. each of the chair’s parts is carved from wood and left in its most natural state. the ‘lightness’ of the chair is expressed through its thin structure. the legs are only 15 mm in diameter with the main steel frame 9 mm. since each part is only 3 mm wide, the chair can only be constructed by hand.

nendo: cord chair for maruni

nendo: cord chair for maruni

nendo: cord chair for maruni displaying the strength of the chair images courtesy of yoneo kawabe

nendo: cord chair for maruni details of the chair images courtesy of yoneo kawabe