Flat Tire Stool – Will H.

I began my stool project by researching paper origami folding techniques. After some small scale prototyping and exploration, I decided on a repeating fold that I knew would have adequate strength due to its construction. The final stool is all cut by hand, uses 3 sheets of 30″x 40″ cardboard, is constructed using only cardboard, and holds my seated weight. It is comprised of three separate “doughnut” like forms, closed with braided cardboard rope, and nested inside of each other.  When there is no weight on the stool pieces can be easily added/ removed making for a modular design, when the stool is compressed, the three pieces connect at the center, forming a hollow column of cardboard which directs the users weight directly down to the floor. In order to soften the harsh geometric forms of the origami, I chose to invert the bottom and top pieces of the stool. This allows the stool to levitate up off of the floor and flower open at the top, exposing its internal structure and creating a feeling of lightness that makes it more approachable. These subtle design features give the user a feeling of domain over what would otherwise be an imposing geometric form.