Emily Clark, Anton Freundorfer

A CHAIR FOR PENELOPE

Table of Contents Manifesto

Client

Design development

Analysis

Fabrication

Chair

1

2

5

17

69

77

Manifesto

Seated alone, she fumbles in the darkto hide the raw silk edges now frayed and tired of this silent game.Her spindle cast aside,a mess of threads pooled at her feet,she pulls apart her dayhand over hand:

Over under, under over, Over under, under over,

Knowing she must begin again what she has just undone,she sits and waits,pulling at the strings of timewhile somewhere out at sea her husband drifts

1

PenelopeFrom Homer’s Odyssey, Penelope is wife of the adventurous and heroic Ithican king Odysseus. When Odysseus and his soldiers do not return for from the Trojan War, Penelope is left at home for over a decade under the assumption that her husband might be dead. During this time, the available men of Ithica come to wait on her in the hopes of marrying into the great family. Hoping against hope that Odysseus might still be alive, Penelope staves off the proposals of her suitors with the excuse that she will not make a decision until after she finishes weaving a shroud for Odysseus’ father. True to her word, Penelope spends her days weaving. Every night, however, she secretly unweaves her work, thus indefinitely postponing any marriage proposals.

Inspired by Penelope’s craft and situation, our chair seeks to provide its user with an opportunity to engage in the craft of weaving. The form of the chair is reminiscent of three basic weaving frames; these frames are held in place by woven components integrated into the structure. To collapse the chair, the user must first unweave or move the slats before sliding the frames onto each other. In this way, the act of weaving manifests itself as an integral part of the chair, making it essential to its nature and use.

Penelope at her Loom 3

Design Development

Precedents

ancient greek loom standing hand loom a chair...

6

hand loom Einstein Chair

7

Initial Concept

8

Revised Concept

Initial Frame corner joint

Initial Frame Sizing

Initial Frame Cross Sections

9

Revised Frame Sizing

Slat-stopper configurations

10

Member profile and connection proportion options

11

Mortise and Tenon Connection Design

Adjustable Mortise and Tenon joint using wedge

12

String connection design

String spacing and threading sequence

13

18”(457mm)

2”(51mm)

18”(457mm)

12”(305mm)

36”(914mm)

36”(914mm)

32 3/4”(832mm)

14”(356mm)

34º

34”(864mm)

3”(76mm)

3 @ 1”(25mm)

1”(25mm)

1/2”(13mm)

1”(25mm)

Chair Plan (1:10) Chair Elevation (1:10)

Chair Elevation (1:10) Chair Section (1:10)14

Chair Axo (N.T.S.)

15

Fabrication

Material Sourcing

Material

Material

Mock-Up

Final

2” x 8” x 10’ SPF dimension lumber (x3)Synthetic wool - 100g ball (x2)Paper Tying Twine - 150’ roll (x5)

10’x1’x1 1/4” Maple, HardNatural Jute Twine - 140’ roll (x3)911mL Danish Oil

Source

Source

Home DepotLens Mills (Hespeler)Canadian Tire

A&M Wood Specialty (Preston)Home HardwareHome Hardware

Cost

Cost

$24 (3 x $8)$10 (2 x $5)$15 (5 x $3)

$49

$50$12 (3 x $4)$20

$82

Total

Total

Grand Total $13171

Finishing Members

Opposite page: Assembling Frames72

73

Cutting strings

74

Stringing frames 75

Chair

Details:String connectionFrame weavingSlat weaving

78

79

Details:Collapsed FramesTop & inside frame connectionContact to ground

(Opposite Page:)Mortise and Tenon

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

Precedent Image Bibliographyhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Penelope_by_Leonidas_Drosis.jpg

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25731/25731-h/25731-h.htm

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25731/25731-h/25731-h.htm

http://halcyonyarn.com/weaving_tapestry.html

http://www.rogersstark.com/wool/weave/weave.htm

Einstein Chair. Photograph. Cambridge. By Elizabeth English.

87