Chair Project - The Foot Chair (2015)

Developed during my time at the Royal College of Art in collaboration with the Fashion Design and Industrial Design Departments, the Chair Project challenged participants to redefine what a "chair" could be. My interpretation, The Foot Chair, was designed as a conceptual exploration of posture and effort. It challenges the notion that a chair necessarily offers rest, instead suggesting that it shifts the muscular effort from one area of the body to another. When sitting, the burden of support transfers from the legs to the core.

The Foot Chair exemplifies this shift, acting as a metaphor for how we interact with supportive objects and how they, in turn, demand engagement from our bodies. It allowed feet to be placed on it but not fully rested, requiring both the chair and the body to maintain balance independently. This design reflects the dynamic nature of sitting, where the act is not entirely passive—our core must engage to hold us upright, even with the chair's support.

The Foot Chair extended the themes of my concurrent research project, The Appetite. Abstract forms inspired by ice cream, the mouth, and the tongue were incorporated to create a sculptural shape capable of holding heels. Playful yet thought-provoking, the design reimagines the chair as more than functional furniture, transforming it into a commentary on balance, support, and the body's active relationship with objects.