GC

The GC chair was designed for a project of a research centre. The spatial structure and basic design of this lab’s architecture are based on chidori-goshi, a Japanese traditional wooden grid structure. Chidori-goshi is a very complicated method of traditional jointing and is a continuation of joints that combines rectangular timber materials at the intersection of three directions using a traditional woodworking joint technique. The lab’s space is sterically surrounded with chidori-goshi grids. This simple chair has a seat made with wood and the backrest created only with one crest rail. Although the composition is extremely simple, we were required to make it stackable. Simple composition means difficult. A simple design is difficult.

The chair needed to be durable enough, so it could be used for a long time yet keep its structure and design simple. In fact, there are not many durable chairs with a frame this thin. Since the chair was to be made wholly of wood, there could be no metal parts to aid durability. So, we adopted two mortises and tenons at each joint of the rear legs and apron. Although these two mortises and tenons create a complicated structure, its advantage is to secure an area of the joint between each rear leg and apron almost twice as large as a mortise and tenon or dowel joint. As each structural member secures a larger adhesive surface, durability is increased. However, since the structural members we used for the chair were originally thin, to make two mortises and tenons, we needed to shave a lot of parts, which resulted in cutting the wood fibres of the grain that were connected to one another to maintain strength. Thus, the durability depended on the finish of the joint. The GC chair was completed after a number of tests and prototypes, and its durability has been guaranteed. Today, GC chairs can withstand heavy use in places with many people such as hotels or public facilities for a long time.
GC chairs fit very well in the chidori-goshi space due to the harmony found in the texture of their wood. They also look beautiful when stacked.