Response 4

            When I heard we had to use cardboard for this project, my immediate word association was “box.” I took that word and ran with it. For my project, I decided to construct a box-style stool. Partially because I remember as a kid receiving packages to summer camp, and for weeks using the boxes as makeshift tables and chairs in the cabin; mostly because I thought it would be the best shape to use to guarantee stability. In addition, it seemed to be the way to use the least amount of cardboard, because it could be easily constructed from one continuous sheet. For my rough draft, I attempted to make an origami style folded box. It did not work—cardboard is, evidently, thicker than paper and the creases did not stay in place well. It fell apart when I sat on it.

For my final project, I changed my design and decided to use a method of folding and cutting slits to create a structural network of support on the inside. Looking at my project, the perceived structure is that it is held up by the “outer walls” of the box—it is not apparent that there is anything underneath. However, flipping it over, the physical structure becomes clear—I used something in between a post and lintel and a truss style of skeleton to support the part that the user sits on.

In lecture, I learned that the detail is “the bridge between the builder and the user.” An important detail of my stool is the leg rest I created by folding the top part over to the underside. This also serves as a connection piece that holds the entire stool together—which is where the tectonic of the stool comes in. I took the idea of constructing a box for its stability, and added the leg rest portion for both aesthetics and comfort. The leg rest obscures the way the stool is actually constructed. The extended piece of cardboard is meant to follow the shape of the back of a bent knee as the user sits on the stool. According to Frascari, details are “nothing more than signs, the meanings of which are learned only by experience.” It may not be clear to an onlooker that this is the purpose of the extended piece of cardboard, but the user is the one who can experience this detail as an added comfort.