Bubble Stool
Duration: 5 weeks
Winter 2025
Introduction Into Furniture Design
An exploration into the world of furniture design, through understanding Proportion, Joinery, and Human Interaction.
Skills: Sketching, Field Research, CAD, Wood Working, User interaction
Research
Began research by analyzing existing furniture from Ikea to gain a better understanding about joinery, general dimensions, aesthetics, materiality, and user needs
Sketching
After initial sketches, I began developing concepts which played with proportion, incorporating thicker legs than most other contemporary furniture, and also the angle at which they sat to further insinuate the width.
Orthographic Drawing
Orthographic sketches of CAD model which highlights the Post and Beam structure used in the design, as well the joinery which utilizes tenons to connect legs to the apron.
This Drawing also served as a build plan, specifying the dimensions and parts which made build process more clear.
Materiality
After weighing out the options, the clear choice was POPLAR since its weight is trumped only by pine which is a softwood. Poplar is typically considered paint grade but the light color highlights the overall design of the stool, and is also one of the best species for machining.
The next step was deciding which species of wood to use, since the dimensions of the pieces are so thick the wood should be lighter so it can easily be carried/ moved by the user. However it should be a hardwood, so it can be machined properly and also for general durability purposes. Additionally it should also be lighter in color so it can highlight the soft curves in the design. The Stool should feel light and airy despite its width.
Build Process
Planed wood down and cut all parts to size
Filing any imperfections after routing the legs
All parts glued and clamped, drying
Arranging all parts to find best fit
Gluing legs to apron, used offset cut while clamp held legs since they are positioned at 95°
Final Shots
