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As a collaboration between Michelle Goodall and Braden Fisco, the Root Chair became an exploration of structural integrity in hand with minimalistic design qualities. Using one or few line-based quick sketches, we were allured by the idea of having a chair composed of two lines as its formal quality. Spurred and compelled by traditional wood-working and finite craftsmanship, the Root Chair saw its first light of day though a conceived array of angle studies for which the intersection of the seat and backrest would lie. After understanding that the most minimal and practical form of joinery would be a classic mortise and tenon, the proper proportions for the chair were decided. Routing the mortise and setting it into the back, consequently sliding the seat into the gap, created the illusion that the chair solely consists of two perpendicular lines. Naturally, the seat alluded to a textbook tenon in joinery practices.
Honesty, modesty, and dichotomy are the principles of the Root Chair. Within the minimal design lies the root of the problem— we have enough chairs in the world, so why design more? The bone structure emphasizes and identifies the need for a sophisticated redesign of a chair that requires minimal material through nominal labor. Embodying honesty and integrity through its finite structure, the transparency of the chair composes a symphony of silence, where the sculpture becomes almost invisible, obsolete. The uncontaminated craft becomes bold and recognizable. In its simplicity, the chair highlights the natural qualities of the material. By creating a connection with its visitor, the Root Chair holds memory both in a physical and symbolic perception. In its roots, the chair carries power in the art of balance while it is subject to the limitations it is bound by.
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root chair
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