THE DESIGN
The idea behind this chair is to create asymmetrically positioned slots set within the thickness of the timber in each of the axes. Under the load of a seated person, these joints will bend, becoming concave on the side of the thinner piece. In this way, the seat and back can flex into an ergonomic shape that is comfortable for sitting, allowing straight pieces of timber to be used that would create curves in operation.
The chair contains just five bolts. Although the idea is simple, the making of it was less straightforward, because selection of timbers needed to ensure that the grain runs straight in the areas where the slots were placed. The squeeze chair was made in hickory, a flexible material that allowed Wallenberg to work it by hand rather than requiring stream bending.

LIFECYCLE CONSIDERATIONS
This approach reduces the number of operations needed to make a comfortable chair, such as steam bending. Its dependency on very accurate grain selection does, however, mean that a lot of material will be rejected – not a problem if other uses can be found for it.

Click to view the impact assessment and/or short film for Squeeze.