yuya ushida: sofa_XXXX

‘sofa_xxxx’ by yuya ushida

‘sofa_xxxx’ by german-based designer yuya ushida is an expandable and retractable seating unit which transforms from chair to sofa. presented at designers fair at imm cologne 2011, the furniture piece is constructed from 8000 chopsticks which have each been individually cut to four different lengths and sanded to achieve the correct angles needed to build the structure. rings and joints are used to connect the sofa and aid in its adaptability and flexibility. overall, it took three months of work to finish the object. three people of 70 kg each, can sit on the sofa at any one time.

various views of the sofa expanded to its greatest size

details of the sofa

detail of the chopsticks and joint components image © designboom

detail of how metal rings connect the individual sticks image © designboom

‘sofa_xxxx’ on show at imm cologne 2011 image © designboom

the two repeated elements which create the retractable form of the sofa image © designboom

how the ‘XXXX_sofa’ worksvideo courtesy of yuya ushida

here is a look at the process it took to produce ‘sofa_xxxx’:

sanding down the chopsticks and preparing them to be cut in box moulds

the chopsticks were cut to four different lengths

each stick was drilled individually

cutting off the edges of the sticks and sanding them

up close of sanding the sticks individually with a look at the before and after

starting to connect the sticks together with joint components

assembling the sofa