Response 4

             I have designed my X-shaped stool with a specific concept. The most important concept of my stool is to design a stool which others would not try. Since we had several rules that regulate its material and the way of constructing it, I thought that most of people would not try to use diagonal legs or weight supports which do not seem to be stable if they are made of cardboard. We can easily find chairs or stools with X-shaped legs, but constructing it with cardboard was not easy. After few tries and failures, I reached to the current design.

             The X-shaped stool has three parts to constitute it: a pair of column, number of diagonal legs and beams. As depicted in the pictures, number of beams form a top plate that we actually sit on, and the X-shaped diagonal legs supports the weight of its user. The columns—although they are not in vertical shape, I would call them “columns” because they work as columns—support the weight from the beams to the bottom part of the legs and hold the legs can stand in X-shape.

             The methods used in assembling the stool are only notching and folding. I employed notching system to connect each part to other parts. The columns are notched into the diagonal legs and the beams. To make the connection between beams and legs, I folded the triangle at the end of the leg and put it over the beams. Also, I folded the other side of the legs—which actually touches floor—to add stability and aesthetic detail. After assembling three parts, I folded each end of the columns to prevent all the legs getting out from the columns.

             In “Purpose, Function, Use,” Richard Hill stated that “If it turns out that use of building does involve a special kind of experience, it might then provide the basis for understanding the relationship between usefulness and aesthetic.” Like this statement, to make my stool special, I did not forget to add some aesthetic aspects related to its function. The first intended aesthetic detail is the proportion of the legs between upper side and bottom side of them. As depicted in the pictures, the asymmetric proportion of the legs also makes the bottom vertical length longer than the top vertical length. If the stool has only symmetry in its design, it might be seem too boring. Another aesthetic detail is the folded bottom end of the legs. The gathered legs with folded end form some kind of zigzag shape that gives aesthetic aspect and stability at the same time.