DIY Designer Chair

Have you ever wanted to become the next Alvar Aalto or Le Corbusier? Do you have the next Eames plywood lounge chair in you, just no way to output it? Your dreams can become true sooner that you know. SketchChair is an open-source software tool that allows anyone to easily design and build their own digitally fabricated furniture.

SketchChair lets users design chairs using a simple 2d drawing interface, automatically generating the structure of a chair and testing its stability. Users can simulate sitting on a chair with a customisable figure of themselves, in order to test and refine the chair to ensure it will comfortably support them.The software automatically generates cutting profiles for the chairs, which can then be used to make physical SketchChairs.  Using a cnc router, laser cutter or paper cutter, these parts can be cut from any suitable flat sheet material, and then easily assembled by hand.

People will be able to send designs to an online digital manufacturing service such as ponoko.com to be cut, or alternatively could send them to a local community workshop or Fab Lab.  Or for the brave of heart, find your long lost jigsaw! The flat-pack and lightweight nature of the chairs makes shipping them affordable, providing an opportunity to a wide audience of people to get their own customised SketchChairs.