Splay: A Chair That Responds to You

The Brief

Pressing Matters set out to assemble a group of independent designers, each offering their own interpretation of a household object that embodied the idea of “compression.”

Inspiration and Form

Splay’s form draws on the visible aesthetic of compression and aims to be simple and legible. Horizontal cylinders are held in place by opposing frames, which trap and compress the cylinders and let them reach across to the opposite side.

How It Works

Under the sitter’s weight, the aluminum frames pivot outward and pull the fabric taut, as if resisting compression and trying to breathe freely. Gas struts return the chair to its resting position, while hydraulic cylinders move the backrest in response to compression of the seat.

Manufacturing

The mechanical design is solid and robust: several layers of CNC-machined parts interconnect to form a sturdy base for the mechanism and padding. The prototype is complex, but lessons from its development and assembly show that part count and complexity could be significantly reduced in future iterations.

Build Process

Form

The form is conceptual and borderline abstract. It affords comfortable sitting while also reading as a perpetually balanced, carefully considered object. The visual language of compression carries through every aspect of the chair.

Outcome

Splay’s aesthetic is consistent and legible: simple geometric shapes held in place and stretched taut by rigid aluminum frames. Its reactive mechanism gave sitters the sense of interacting with the product on more than a purely physical level.