We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer Pelin Erkuvun about their original and creative Assemblable Chair design work. Pelin Erkuvun is an award-winning industrial designer, that makes our world a better place with their original assemblable chair works.
Pelin Erkuvun ("PE") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Lay Assemblable Chair. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
PE : Design is inspired by sustainable solutions and Scandinavian designs with their simplicity and minimal language. The main idea behind the Lay Chair is the desire for suggesting a new form and a simple assembly variation for flat-pack chair designs. The plywood material with the pressing technologies that offer unique, sophisticated yet simple appearances inspired me on suggesting an assemblable chair made of layering moulded plywood parts in a new form. Lay Chair, as the name suggests, presents layering of plywood parts for a new assemblable chair.
PE : The main focus in designing Lay chair is to suggest an alternative assemblable seating solution concept that follows sustainable values starting from its reduced volume for transport up to its assembly. Meanwhile, close attention is given to appreciate the plywood material for its’ functional and aesthetical qualities in designing a flat-back chair concept with a sustainable value. Lay chair results as a mono-material, lightweight chair that presents a simple unidirectional assembly/disassembly, and offers flat-pack transportation for a reduced footprint. The layering of the seat and backrest characterizes the aesthetical appearance where the chair exhibits an effortless combination of plywood layers and achieves a user-friendly assembly process.
PE : At first, I will try to make a prototype of the awarded the Lay Chair and study the market feasibility. Meanwhile, I research possible manufacturers for starting a prototype development work than the production of the Lay Chair.
PE : I began working on this concept in September 2020 and continued developing until January 2021, and then I decided to participate in the A' Design Award. Currently, I am following researches and working on developing this concept to create the prototype.
PE : I designed the Lay Chair by following just my personal inspiration and interest in the material and the particular production process. I have always found very inspiring chairs made in moulded plywood for their simple and elegant yet very functional aspects. These qualities inspired me on developing the particular form and concept for an assemblable chair.
PE : This design is not being produced or used by another company. My priority is participating from the initial prototyping stage till the final production of the Chair in order to experience all details of the process during development. Depends on the terms of conditions maybe plan to sell or lease the production rights. I have no chance to produce myself.
PE : Yes, absolutely. I got inspired by observing Scandinavian furniture designs and especially how they used the moulded plywood material in such innovative and functional ways on products, also obtaining new aesthetical solutions.
PE : I believe that the design concept refers to different target audiences. The customer could become whoever seeking a new perspective on products, requesting minimal, compact, functional and sustainable qualities on products for their residential spaces.
PE : Lay, the name of the design, indicates the act of placing down, particularly ‘the process of layering’ parts of the chair to obtain the final form. The name highlights and explains both the assembly process based on layering elements of seat and backrest on the leg structure and the plywood material used.
PE : I started working on the project by sketching the main idea, researching existing products and creating an inspiration mood board. Then, developed these ideas on computer programs Rhinoceros and V-ray for Cinema4D for modelling 3d and rendering to visualize examples of final results. I also made cardboard-polystyrene study models on a 1:5 scale and worked on them during this phase.
PE : The most unique aspect of the design is the assembly of the chair and the coherence between the resulting form and the assembly process. I believe that the appearance of the backrest and the seat is inviting for a simple assembly and communicates the process with customers intuitively.
PE : I did not have any collaboration and worked myself on this project. I am looking forward to collaborating with professionals and companies with technical knowledge and the know-how on working with moulded plywood to expand my knowledge and developing a proper prototype of the chair.
PE : The technology of plywood production has a primary role in defining the product and studying a form that challenges the material and the production process itself. The design of Lay Chair requires an elevated precision and a particular curvature with a small radius which requires a sophisticated technology of plywood production presses and CNC technologies.
PE : The two mainly challenging themes to consider during the design process were understanding the plywood material with the production process and studying the assembly process that adapts the environmental sustainability values. The challenging part was designing the assembly process of the chair following research made on assembly requirements for sustainable products and reconsidering the design of each element with the assembly consequence for maintaining a user-friendly experience.
PE : After gathered more research and knowledge, I decided to apply to A' Design Award and Competition considering that the Lay Chair Design has a unique, compact, simple, practical appearance and application compare to similar ones in the market. As a young professional designer, I believe that A’ Design Award and Competition is going to give further enrichment to present Portfolio also will be able to get in touch with well-known groups in the design industry.
PE : I learned about the plywood material with its’ advantages and limitations, the wood production process from the selection of wood species to the pressing tools and finishing processes. Working on the Lay Chair concept helped me expand my knowledge on several aspects of wood production and also discovering companies and brands working in this field.
