In building construction, estimating the exact amount of materials to use in advance is a challenge. This often leads to leftover materials at construction sites. However, with awareness, we can ask these simple questions; "What can we, as architects, do to salvage and utilize deserted materials?" "Can we design and build something useful with these materials without relying on typical manufacturing methods?"

At the construction site, a leftover reinforcing steel bar was chosen as a single material to build a chair with an essential form and a continuous single line. The building process, which only requires bending, was carefully thought out. The rebar was cut to a length of 6 meters (19.7 feet) to be bent 14 times. Manual rebar bending tools available at the site are used to bend the rebar to create the chair's frame. Finally, a steel wire mesh was cut, bent, and tied to the frame to provide seating using essential hand tools like pliers. The wire mesh for seating also ties the frame firmly for additional structural stability of the chair. This entire production process does not require any bolt-nut joint or welding, ensuring a simple and efficient process.

This chair design highlights essential sustainability strategies in building construction, and using only steel would make the chair ideal for recycling. Aside from issues of aesthetics and comfort, this project suggests the critical role of architects in sustainability in the building and manufacturing industry.

 

Year: 2012

Type: Furniture

Materials: Reinforcing steel bar, wire mesh

Publications: "Leftover inspiration: the construction aesthetic of "Chair 6.0"", Archinect Features, Furniture February, 2016