The Spine
A dynamic furniture prototype
Overview
Project
The Spine is a hybrid furniture object that integrates open book storage directly into its seating structure. Every element serves a dual role: the bookends become the seating surface, the joints become the book supports. A repeated linear framework generates a soft, undulating silhouette that widens where users sit and narrows where the structure holds books, pursuing maximalism through reduction.
Question
The Spine must bear the load of a seated user and the organizational demands of a bookshelf without compromising either. The undulating geometry requires precise joinery and wood selection, as the repeated linear framework must remain visually cohesive while adapting to functionally distinct zones along the object's length.
Impact
Can a single object's anatomy be so thoroughly resolved around duality of use that the distinction between seating and storage becomes structurally and conceptually irrelevant?
Digital Drawings
Plan and Elevations
Exploded Axon
Detail Construction
Project Development
Ideation, iteration, and problem solving through model making
Final Prototype
Bench Orientation
Lounge Orientation
Back View
3D Rhino Model
Refinement
The Spine poster is a graphic exploration of how the piece’s function would transform at twice its original scale. Due to constraints in wood supply during the initial project, the design was realized smaller than intended, limiting its ability to comfortably accommodate the range of book sizes and seating postures it was conceived to support. These renderings not only illustrate the impact of scaling up, but also celebrate the piece’s distinctive undulating form, offering an abstracted visual study of the fluid geometry that defines its character.
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