Revolutionizing Comfort: Thomas Rauscher's Innovative Folding Chair

Award-Winning Design Transforms Sitting into an Active, Balancing Act

Thomas Rauscher's folding chair, an embodiment of minimalistic design and innovation, was inspired by a common childhood memory: tilting on chairs. This act of using only two legs of a chair, replacing the missing ones with the person's legs, transforms sitting from a static to an actively balancing position. Rauscher took this concept and turned it into a design principle for his award-winning chair.

The folding chair's unique properties lie in its simplicity and adaptability. Reduced to a minimum both aesthetically and structurally, the chair is essentially a self-supporting hammock that uses the person sitting on it as a construction element. The chair's design encourages an active sitting position, with the user required to balance due to the single skid underneath. The chair's overall flexibility allows it to adapt to any position, and when not in use, it can be collapsed to a thickness of just 15mm.

The chair's realization was achieved through the use of tear-resistant fabric and two wood panels. The production methods involved cutting and stitching the fabric and cutting and milling the wood panels. The assembly process involves sliding the panels into the inside pockets of the fabric belt. The materials used for the belt include tear-resistant fabrics like canvas, batyline, tarp, carpet, etc., while the panels are made of plywood, cdf, reinforced plastic, and so on.

The design process for this innovative chair began in 2011 with the idea of using tilting as a design principle. The concept evolved over the years, with the final idea of adding two pockets on the inside of the belt to slide the panels in emerging by the end of 2015. The research behind the design was based on awareness, noticing the tendency to tilt while sitting on a stool, and designing a chair that adapts to the user, not vice versa.

Despite facing challenges and counter-arguments, such as the chair's instability and the initial difficulty in using it, Rauscher persisted. His folding chair, which adopts tilting as the design principle and actively involves the user in sitting, was awarded Silver in the A' Furniture Design Award in 2017. The award recognized the chair's strong technical characteristics, splendid artistic skill, and remarkable level of excellence.

In conclusion, Thomas Rauscher's innovative folding chair is a testament to the power of design in transforming everyday objects and activities. By redefining the concept of sitting, Rauscher has created a piece of furniture that is not only functional and aesthetically pleasing but also encourages an active lifestyle. His design serves as an inspiration for future designers to think outside the box and challenge conventional norms.