A comfortable chair blending traditional materials with contemporary design

HAXA

Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Industrial | UNAM
Bachelor academic project
Mexico City, México | 2012

Objective: To develop the skills to design an ergonomic office chair and produce a prototype.

Contribution: ergonomic outline, design, ergonomic simulator, 3D CAD model, plans and prototype manufacturing.

Iconic chairs in design are often associated with timeless aesthetic appeal. However, good design also takes into account ergonomic principles, regional anthropometric dimensions, and users’ activities throughout the design process.

Designing a chair is therefore not merely about form, but about creating a solution that supports prolonged periods of work, promotes good posture, and provides comfort for users.

How we design it?

HAXA chair design uses Mexican anthropometric dimensions to draw guidelines for the seat, back, and armrest locations. Then, we explored the form using scale models. With a defined concept, we moved to full-scale prototypes and iterate until we reached the final design.

Light, simple & classy

Using red cotton ribbons, we traced the curvature of the backrest and seat to create thin, flexible surfaces that followed the user’s body shape. However, the tension generated by the user’s weight on the ribbons was significant. For this reason, maple wood was selected for the structure due to its mechanical properties and its ability to withstand these forces.