Modern Update to the Folding Chair is Elegant + Sustainable
The folding chair is an object that people tend to either love or hate. It can be easily stored and only brought out when needed, but it isn’t exactly pretty to look at. Designer Leo Salom has created a modern, stylish folding chair that puts that old tubular metal models to shame.
The Folding Chair, designed by Salom for Monstrans, was cut from a single piece of sustainable bamboo plywood. It has cut-out handles on either side for simple transport, and because it’s so thin it can be stacked in tiny spaces out of the way.
There are three parts to the chair: a front leg that continues up to become the backrest, a back leg that kicks back to provide balance, and a padded seat that swings out. Hinges connect the pieces and rare earth magnets keep the chair from opening at unwanted times.
Unlike other folding chairs, these have a modern aesthetic that would actually look good stacked in the corner of a room. And since they’re nearly flat, they can be kept well out of the way until your next dinner party or book club meeting.
Alas, it doesn’t seem like this chair is actually available for sale anymore, though a few collector’s items can be found on the internet every now and then. If you love the simple brilliance of this design and are handy, downloadable 3D plans have been created by another designer and posted at 3D Warehouse.
More from the designer
“The folding chair is a long standing question between efficiency of space and portability, and the technological making that links the two. True of any design question, a solution can be reached by. There are three hinges that connect and allow the wooden parts to articulate about and the eight rare earth magnets that hold the parts in place in the closed position.”
